It's been nearly a week since the fatal collision and sinking of a tour boat on the Danube River in Hungary.
On Tuesday,... three more victims of the capsized tourist boat were discovered by rescue and recovery teams,... bringing the confirmed death toll to twelve.
Oh Soo-young reports.
South Korean officials in Budapest say two bodies were found at around 1PM and 3:30PM,... local time on Tuesday,... roughly 50 to 55 kilometers downstream from the site where the tourist boat capsized on the Danube River.
Both were confirmed as South Korean men,... the former had been in his sixties and the other in his twenties.
Another body,... also presumed to be a Korean national,... was discovered at around 2:30 PM at the accident site,... stuck between glass doors of the submerged boat.
This brings the official death toll to twelve,... out of the 35 people who were on the boat who were all South Korean except two Hungarian crewmembers.
Only seven people are known to have survived.
A Seoul official said authorities have identified nine of the deceased victims discovered as of Monday.
"The South Korea-Hungary joint identification team finished identifying the bodies today at dawn. The method of identification involves taking fingerprints (from the two bodies) and comparing them with the 'original prints' taken from South Korea's National Police Agency. The bodies have been identified (as South Koreans) as their fingerprints matched the original prints."
The official said the victims' families are being consulted with on the funeral procedures,... and their bodies are likely to be returned to South Korea within the week.
Meanwhile, Korean and Hungarian authorities have agreed to begin operations to lift the wreckage,... which sits nine meters below the water's surface.
The South Korean Embassy's Defense Attache Song Shun-keun said the Korean search team will participate in diving operations to help secure chains around the wreckage.
Efforts to salvage the vessel are expected as early as Thursday, once a huge floating crane is delivered to the scene.
The crane can lift up to 200 tons at a time,... and authorities expect the wreckage to weigh roughly 100 tons.
However, there are concerns the crane may take more time to reach the accident site,... due to the high water levels on the Danube, which will make it difficult for the crane to pass under bridges on the way to Budapest.
Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.
