In a tragic incident on the Danube River in Hungary, two individuals have lost their lives and five others remain missing after a boat collision occurred. The incident took place near the town of Veroce, approximately 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of the capital city, Budapest. Hungarian police received a report late on Saturday night regarding a man who was found with a head injury on the shores of the Danube in the vicinity.

Following the initial report, the authorities discovered the bodies of a man and a woman in close proximity to each other. Subsequently, a damaged boat was found in the water by the police, who then safely towed it to the shore. Presently, the search is still underway for five adults, consisting of three men and two women, who are believed to have been on the boat during the collision.

Investigators have determined that a river cruise boat was in the area at the time of the accident. As a result, they intercepted and stopped a cruise boat named Heidelberg, which possessed a damaged hull, near the town of Komarom, situated more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) upstream.

The cruise boat in question, Heidelberg, is a 109-meter (357-foot) Swiss vessel with a capacity to accommodate 110 people. Fortunately, no passengers on the boat reported any injuries stemming from the incident.

The Danube at Veroce is around 1,500 feet (460 meters) wide, located in an area renowned as the Danube Bend, where the river makes a sweeping, nearly 90-degree turn to the south. This region is a popular recreational and boating destination and is frequently traversed by cruise boats operating between Budapest and the Austrian capital, Vienna, which lies approximately 140 miles (230 kilometers) upstream.

Tragically, this fatal accident occurred just five years after Budapest experienced a similar incident where a river cruise boat collided with a smaller tourist vessel, resulting in the loss of at least 27 lives. In May 2019, the tourist boat Hableany, carrying mostly South Korean tourists, was swiftly sunk beneath Budapest's Margit Bridge by the significantly larger cruise boat, Viking Sigyn. Last year, the Ukrainian captain of the Viking Sigyn was found guilty of negligence leading to a fatal mass catastrophe and was subsequently sentenced to five years and six months in prison. The captain has since appealed this decision.

In response to the recent tragedy, Hungarian police have initiated criminal proceedings against an unidentified perpetrator on suspicion of endangering water transport and causing multiple fatalities. A large-scale search operation, involving nearly 90 personnel from various regional disaster management agencies, has been underway. The search includes the deployment of twelve boats, three drones, and two rescue divers.

As the investigation continues, authorities will strive to bring closure to the families affected by this devastating incident and ensure the safety of water transport on the Danube River.