Thirty-four people -- including 33 South Koreans -- were on board when it collided with another vessel in the Hungarian capital Wednesday night, according to South Korean company Very Good Tour. The collision occurred in the center of the city.
Seven people have been rescued. At least some were rescued more than a mile downstream, CNN affiliate ATV reported, and have been hospitalized. Many of the passengers on board were not wearing life jackets, the Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said seven South Korean tourists had died, but it later clarified that the people who had died might not all be South Korean citizens.
Hungarian authorities said their rescue workers were experiencing difficulties as it is night and the weather is bad, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said in a statement.
The 34 people on board included 30 tourists, two guides, a photographer and a local, non-Korean boat captain, Very Good Tour's chief operating officer Lee Sang-moo said at a press conference in Seoul on Thursday. The tour group was on the fourth day of a nine-day tour around Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and Germany.
Most people on board were middle aged, Lee added. The oldest passenger was in their 70s -- while the youngest was born in 2013.
"I deeply apologize to the parties affected by the accident, families of victims and the people who are suffering after hearing the news this morning," Lee said. "I understand that the boat took every precaution."
'No signs of a possible issue'
Mihaly Toth, a spokesman for boating company Panorama Deck, which operated the capsized ship, said the company could not confirm why the boat sank.
"It was just an average day and this was a regular trip. We carry out thousands of tourist boat trips every day, there were no signs that something like this could happen," Toth said.
The tourist boat, called the Mermaid, had been operating on the Danube since 2003 and there had been "no signs of a possible issue with the boat," he added.
Panorama Deck "ensures all the necessary technical maintenance is carried out every year," he said.
South Korea's President has ordered a rapid response team to be dispatched to help the rescue effort in Budapest, a presidential spokesperson in Seoul said Thursday.
South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will head up a central disaster and safety countermeasures headquarters, which will aim to ensure smooth dialogue with the victims, families and the tour boat collision.
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