3 bodies recovered in Danube, 2 confirmed as S. Korean victims of boat sinking

BUDAPEST/SEOUL, June 5 (Yonhap) -- Three more bodies have been retrieved from the Danube River, and two of them were confirmed to be South Koreans missing in last week's deadly sinking of a sightseeing boat, officials said Wednesday.

Should all of them be confirmed to be Koreans, it would raise the death toll of the May 29 boat sinking in Budapest to 12 Koreans, with 14 others still unaccounted for. Two Hungarian crew members also remain missing. Seven other Korean passengers were rescued right after the accident.

A first body was found some 55 kilometers away from the sinking site at around 1 p.m. on Tuesday (Budapest time), and the victim was later found to be a South Korean in his 60s, according to officials of the government's quick response team in Budapest.

About 1 1/2 hours later, the second body was pulled from underwater at the accident site. He is presumed to be a South Korean victim, but more analysis is required before confirming his identification, according to the officials.

The third body was found some 50 km from the site, who was confirmed to be a South Korean in his 20s.

graceoh@yna.co.kr
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