헝가리 유람선사고 9일째…강 수위 주시 속 인양준비•수색 박차
Turning to the latest on the recovery operations in Budapest, where a tour boat accident took lives.
Three more bodies were found on Thursday local time... authorities are still struggling to find ways to safely salvage the boat.
We have our Lee Min-sun standing by on the line.
Min-sun, what do you have for us.
More bodies were found on Thursday local time. Two South Korean passengers and one Hungarian crew member were found a few kilometers downstream from the site where the tourist boat capsized last week. Now the death toll stands at 19. Only seven people out of 35 that were on the boat survived the sinking and 9 people are still missing.
Many of the missing bodies are presumed to be inside the wreck.
The search operation continues at the site, but because of high waters and strong currents, divers are having difficulty.
Seoul’s response team in Hungary will deploy a drone that they brought from Korea to conduct more close up search operations in suspicious areas including the where the latest bodies were found. And the search area will be expanded to cover 100 kilometers down the river.
While the search operation continues, the rescue team has been also working on salvaging the boat.
What's the progress there?
Since the rescue team shifted focus to salvaging the boat, divers have been conducting preparation work.
They installed wires on the stern side of the boat before wrapping chains and ropes around it so it can be raised.
"The Hungarian rescue team started working on the wiring at 5 AM today, and they plan on finishing the task by the end of the day. Hungary initially planned to wrap two wires but decided to bundle wires in 4 places. It seems that the Hungarian authorities accepted our opinion that more wires are needed to lift the ship without drastic shaking."
While carefully carrying out the plan, South Korean and Hungarian rescue teams are making sure that bodies inside the boat are not lost during the salvaging process.
The biggest crane in Eastern Europe has been standing ready nearby to salvage the wreckage… but has not been able to access the accident site due to unsafe water levels.
The water level was at 464 centimeters this morning, a bit higher than the day before. And that's due to melted snow from the Alps...
But the water level is expected to decrease over the weekend and reach a safe level at least by Monday that will make rescue work easier.
The team is also devising various ways to bring the crane to the accident site... including taking it apart to pass through the bridge.
The team aims to use the crane to salvage the boat as early as Saturday night or Sunday morning at the latest...and the salvaging process is expected to take about four hours.
That's all from me at this hour.
But I will keep you updated...
