2 Dead, 5 Missing after Boat Collision on Danube in Hungary

The pack of riders cross the Chain Bridge over River Danube during the fourth stage of the 45th Tour de Hongrie, a cycling race over 167 km between Budapest and Etyek, Hungary, 11 May 2024.  EPA/ZOLTAN MATHE HUNGARY OUT
The pack of riders cross the Chain Bridge over River Danube during the fourth stage of the 45th Tour de Hongrie, a cycling race over 167 km between Budapest and Etyek, Hungary, 11 May 2024. EPA/ZOLTAN MATHE HUNGARY OUT
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2 Dead, 5 Missing after Boat Collision on Danube in Hungary

The pack of riders cross the Chain Bridge over River Danube during the fourth stage of the 45th Tour de Hongrie, a cycling race over 167 km between Budapest and Etyek, Hungary, 11 May 2024.  EPA/ZOLTAN MATHE HUNGARY OUT
The pack of riders cross the Chain Bridge over River Danube during the fourth stage of the 45th Tour de Hongrie, a cycling race over 167 km between Budapest and Etyek, Hungary, 11 May 2024. EPA/ZOLTAN MATHE HUNGARY OUT

Two people were killed and five others were missing after a suspected collision involving a small motor boat and a cruise ship on the Danube River north of Budapest late on Saturday, Hungarian police said.

The body of an adult man was found near the site, while that of a woman was recovered further downstream and disaster response units were still searching for the five missing people, police said on Sunday.

A spokesperson for the Budapest police, Soma Csecsi, said eight adults were aboard the small motor boat at the time of the suspected collision. The accident was reported on Saturday night after police talked to a man found with a bleeding head wound near the main road by the river near Veroce, 55 km (34 miles) north of Budapest.
"Police talked to the man and from his initial communication they drew the conclusion that he was probably the victim of some kind of boat accident," Csecsi said.
The body of a man was recovered south of Veroce, while a woman's body was found further downstream near a bridge on the northern outskirts of Budapest, where police also recovered the damaged motor boat, he said.
"At the time of the accident a cruise ship was located in the area, which was stopped at the town of Komarom where police have determined that the ship is damaged on one side," he said.
Hungarian state media carried images of a moored 109-metre-long cruise ship identified as Swiss-based Heidelberg. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board or their nationalities.
Police have launched a criminal investigation against an unknown perpetrator to determine the cause of the accident. The goal of the investigation is to find whether anyone is criminally liable, Csecsi said.

The Danube at Veroce is roughly 1,500 feet (460 meters) wide and is in the center of an area called the Danube Bend where the river makes a sweeping, nearly 90-degree turn to the south. The area is a popular recreational and boating destination and is on a route often used by cruise boats between Budapest and the Austrian capital, Vienna, some 140 miles (230 kilometers) upriver.
The deadly accident comes five years after at least 27 people were killed in Budapest when a river cruise boat collided with a smaller tourist vessel, sinking it in seconds.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.