The body of the Hungarian captain of the tourist boat Hableány (Mermaid) has been removed from the wreck after the vessel sank on May 29 when she with the cruise ship Viking Sigyn.

The Hableány was brought to the surface on Tuesday, and four victims were recovered, including the captain and the only child that was on the vessel. There were seven survivors in the incident and 24 now confirmed dead, most South Koreans. Four remain missing.

The Hableány, a 27-meter (89-foot) double-decker tourist ship, sank quickly after colliding with the 135-meter (443-foot) Viking Sigyn on the Danube River in Budapest last Wednesday night. The wreck was found on the bed of the river close to one of the pillars of Margaret Bridge. Some of the bodies that were recovered last week were pulled out of the water several miles south of the bridge where the incident occurred, according to a map release by the police.

Questions have been raised about the high amount of traffic on the Danube at the time and the possible tightening of water traffic regulations.

The 64-year-old captain of the Viking Sigyn, who is a Ukrainian citizen, was arrested last Thursday following questioning. The court has ordered that he be detained for a period of 30 days pending prosecution. </s> Salvage crews recovered four bodies as they lifted the wreck of a boat, two weeks after it capsized on the Danube River in Budapest killing 28. </s> SALVAGE crews recovered four bodies on Tuesday as they slowly lifted the wreck of a boat two weeks after it capsised.

 It capsised on the Danube River in Budapest with a group of South Korean tourists on board, officials said.

 The Mermaid boat sank in seconds on May 29, after a large cruise liner hit it from behind under a bridge in the Hungarian capital during heavy rain.

 26, tourists, two Hungarian crew died in the worst disaster on the river in half a century.

 The bodies of all but four of the victims have now been recovered.

 One of the bodies was spotted as the captain’s cabin came to the surface, said the spokesman for Hungary’s Special Forces, who are coordinating the recovery operation.

 “Now we will make further checks, in the parts of the boat where there could be further victims,” Nandor Jasenszky said.

 State news agency MTI reported that a total of four victims had been found on Tuesday and recovered by divers.

 Salvage crews saluted in respect as each body was removed.

 Divers had pulled straps under the sunken wreck to allow a huge floating crane to start lifting it.

 Each level of the boat would be searched as it surfaced and the vessel would then be hoisted onto a barge, Jasenszky added.

 The captain of the cruise liner Viking Sigyn, a 64-year-old man identified by police as C. Yuriy from Odessa, Ukraine is being held as a suspect.

 His lawyers said he is devastated but did nothing wrong.

 The captain was held under suspicion of misconduct in waterborne traffic leading to mass casualties, police have said.

 Swiss-based Viking Cruises Ltd, which owns the Viking Sigyn, has said it is cooperating with Hungarian investigators. </s> BUDAPEST
• Salvage crews recovered four bodies yesterday as they slowly lifted the wreck of a boat from the Danube River in Budapest, two weeks after it capsized with a group of South Korean tourists on board, officials said.

The Mermaid sank in seconds on May 29, after a cruise liner hit it from behind under a bridge in the Hungarian capital during heavy rain. Twenty-six of the tourists and the two Hungarian crew members died in the worst disaster on the river in half a century. The bodies of all but four of the victims have now been recovered.

One of the bodies was spotted as the captain's cabin came to the surface, said the spokesman for Hungary's special forces, who are coordinating the recovery operation.

"Now we will make further checks... in the parts of the boat where there could be further victims," Mr Nandor Jasenszky said.

State news agency MTI reported that a total of four victims were found yesterday and recovered by divers. Salvage crews saluted in respect as each body was removed.

Divers had placed straps under the sunken wreck to allow a huge floating crane to lift it. The Mermaid was lifted onto a barge that will take it to Csepel, an industrial port in south Budapest.

The captain of the cruise liner Viking Sigyn - a 64-year-old man identified as C. Yuriy from Odessa, Ukraine - is being held as a suspect. His lawyers said he is devastated but did nothing wrong.

The captain was held under suspicion of misconduct in waterborne traffic leading to mass casualties, police said. Swiss-based Viking Cruises, which owns the Viking Sigyn, said it is cooperating with Hungarian investigators. </s> BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian salvage crews prepared on Monday to raise the wreck of a pleasure boat that capsized on the Danube river in Budapest, killing 26 South Korean tourists and two local crew.

The Mermaid sank after a large Swiss-owned cruise liner struck it from behind on May 29 as both vessels passed under a 19th century bridge in the Hungarian capital during heavy rain.

It was the worst disaster in half a century on Europe’s longest river, which has become an increasingly popular route for big hotel cruisers.

The bodies of all but eight of the victims have been recovered.

Divers inserted four straps under the sunken wreck to allow a floating crane to lift it, possibly starting on Tuesday morning, according to South Korean Embassy defense attache Song Shun-Keun.

He expressed concern that the ship might break up, or bodies could be dislodged.

“Therefore, Hungarian experts spend a lot of time figuring out how to lift the ship in a good balanced position,” he told reporters.

Hungarian special forces spokesman Nandor Jasenszky said divers had fixed the straps and made all the necessary checks.

“The boat can be lifted soon,” he said, adding that the first phase, when the wreck is raised off the riverbed, will be critical.

Once the captain’s deck appears, they will stop and search for the body of the captain before continuing to lift the boat very slowly.

“It cannot be excluded that something happens to the hull (during the process) but we are hoping it won’t,” Jasenszky added.

The wreck will be placed on a barge before the police take over the investigation.

The Viking Sigyn cruise liner’s captain, a 64-year-old Ukrainian man identified by police as C. Yuriy, is being held as a suspect. His lawyers said he was upset but did nothing wrong.

Seven South Koreans were saved and 20 of the victims’ bodies have been recovered. On a nearby embankment, people have placed flowers, candles and teddy bears.

“I sincerely hope the missing bodies can be retrieved and brought back to their families to rest,” said South Korean tourist Lee Seung Hwan who was standing by the river. </s> Salvage crews recovered four bodies on Tuesday as they slowly lifted the wreck of a boat two weeks after it capsized on the Danube River in Budapest with a group of South Korean tourists on board, officials said.

The Mermaid boat sank in seconds on May 29 after a large cruise liner hit it from behind under a bridge in the Hungarian capital during heavy rain.

Twenty-six of the tourists and the two Hungarian crew died in the worst disaster on the river in half a century. The bodies of all but four of the victims have now been recovered.

One of the bodies was spotted as the captain's cabin came to the surface, said the spokesman for Hungary's special forces, who are coordinating the recovery operation.

"Now we will make further checks ... in the parts of the boat where there could be further victims," Nandor Jasenszky said. </s> At least 4 more bodies have been recovered as salvage crews raised the wreck of a tourist boat, which sank on the Danube in Budapest last month.

Divers entered the boat as a floating crane slowly brought it to the surface.

The Mermaid was carrying South Korean tourists when it was in collision with a cruise ship and capsized, leaving 20 people dead and eight others missing.

High water levels in the Danube have hampered recovery efforts by Hungarian and South Korean teams.

Footage from the scene this morning shows the cabin and upper deck of the boat emerge from the water and divers then carry out a search for victims still trapped inside.

Pumps then removed water from the hull and the rest of the 70-year-old boat was slowly brought to the surface.

The entire operation is expected to take several hours.

The bodies recovered were believed to be those of 3 South Koreans and the Hungarian captain. </s> Four more bodies have been found after crews recovered a tourist boat that sank on the Danube in the Hungarian capital last month.

Rescue teams used a large crane to hoist the 50-tonne Mermaid vessel out of the river in Budapest on Tuesday. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Timelapse footage shows the operation to raise the boat from the riverbed

Four more bodies have been recovered after salvage crews raised the wreck of a tourist boat that sank on the Danube in Budapest last month.

A floating crane raised The Mermaid to the surface, allowing divers to enter.

The boat was carrying South Korean tourists when it was hit by a cruise ship and capsized, killing 20 people and leaving eight missing.

Recovery efforts by Hungarian and South Korean teams have been hampered by high water levels in the Danube.

Footage from the scene on Tuesday morning showed the cabin and upper deck of the boat emerge from the water and divers carry out a search for victims still trapped inside.

The four bodies recovered have not been formally identified, but they are believed to be those of the boat's Hungarian captain and three South Koreans including a six-year-old girl - the only child to die in the accident.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Hoists lifted the boat and then water was pumped out from the hull

The rest of the 70-year-old boat was then slowly brought to the surface with pumps removing water from the hull to stabilise it, and lifted on to a barge.

One of the divers, Zoltan Papp, said attaching straps to the hull of the boat had been difficult because visibility in the muddy, fast-flowing river had been as low as 10cm (4in) at times.

"It was like being in heavy snowfall or fog," he told Reuters news agency.

At one point in Tuesday's operation, a member of the recovery crew fell into the swollen river and had to be rescued by colleagues.

Another four people are believed to still be missing. After the ship was raised, a police spokesman said search efforts would be doubled to find them.

How did the accident happen?

The Viking Sigyn cruise ship struck the Mermaid just after 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on 29 May as both vessels passed under the Margaret Bridge.

Seven of the 35 people on board were rescued and several bodies quickly recovered, but others were swept away in the swollen river or trapped inside the boat.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The tour boat sank seconds after a collision with another vessel

Police said the boat had sunk within seven seconds of the collision.

"The current was so fast and people were floating away," one survivor, identified only by her surname Jung, told South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

More bodies were recovered in the following days, with one pulled from the Danube more than 100km (60 miles) downstream. Excluding the unidentified four recovered on Tuesday, 19 South Korean tourists and a Hungarian crewman are so far confirmed to have died.

The disaster was the worst on the Danube - Europe's second-longest river - in more than 50 years.

What about the investigation?

The wreck of the Mermaid will be taken to a secure location and examined by police, who have launched a criminal investigation.

The Viking Sigyn's captain, named as 64-year-old Ukrainian national Yuriy C, was detained on suspicion of reckless misconduct in waterborne traffic leading to mass casualties. His lawyers said he was devastated but did nothing wrong.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said his government would co-operate with Hungarian authorities "to thoroughly investigate the incident".
Four bodies are recovered by salvage crews during the raising of the wreck of the Hableány, which sank on the Danube in Budapest last month. Four other people are still missing.