Cruise ship captain in May's deadly Danube crash re-arrested

Cruise ship captain in May's deadly Danube crash re-arrested
ASSOCIATED PRESS December 16, 2019 https://www.stripes.com/news/europe/cruise-ship-captain-in-may-s-deadly-...

BUDAPEST, Hungary — The cruise ship captain involved in a May collision with a sightseeing boat on the Danube River in which 28 people were killed has been rearrested over concerns he may try to flee before his trial, Hungarian prosecutors said Monday.

The 64-year-old captain of the Viking Sigyn, identified only as Yuriy C., was charged last month by Budapest prosecutors with negligent endangerment of water traffic leading to a fatal mass catastrophe, and 35 counts of failing to give assistance. Prosecutors are seeking a nine-year prison sentence.

Just seven of the 33 South Korean tourists aboard the Hableany (Mermaid) sightseeing boat survived the nighttime collision, which also killed the boat's two-man Hungarian crew. The collision happened at Budapest's Margit Bridge, near the country's Parliament building.

The remains of a female South Korean tourist have yet to be recovered.
Monday's decision by the Pest Central District Court can be appealed.

The captain had been released from detention after the investigation of the crash ended in October, but had to wear an electronic tracking device and wasn't allowed to leave his designated residence without permission.

The Hableany was raised out of the Danube by a huge floating crane on June 11. Some of the victims' bodies were recovered weeks after the crash more than 62 miles downstream.