Sightseeing boat was by the Hungarian parliament building when it collided with another vessel

Seven South Koreans have died after a sightseeing boat sank in the Danube, close to the Hungarian parliament building in central Budapest, Hungarian and South Korean officials have said.

Thirty-three South Koreans were onboard the boat when it collided with another vessel, South Korea’s foreign ministry said. The 26-metre tourist boat was also carrying two Hungarian crew members.

“At this stage, seven people have been taken to hospital in a stable condition and our services have recorded the death of seven other people,” Pal Gyorfi, a spokesman for Hungarian emergency services, said.

There were emergency vehicles positioned at regular intervals along a two-mile stretch of the river in the early hours of Thursday, as the search for survivors continued, hampered by driving rain and poor visibility. Heavy rainfall since the beginning of May has led to high water levels, complicating rescue efforts.

“There was a tragic boat accident at around 9pm [on Wednesday],” said Gábor Csató, the CEO of the Hungarian ambulance service, speaking from a makeshift emergency services command point on the riverbank shortly before midnight local time. “We’ve put a huge effort into the rescue involving 17 ambulances, fire engines, police and boats, looking along both sides of the Danube.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rescue services searched the river for South Korean tourists missing after their boat sank, following a collision.

Photograph: Gergely Besenyei/AFP/Getty Images

He said the current in the Danube was so strong that some people had been found many miles downstream outside Budapest city limits. One person was pulled from the water near Petőfi Bridge, around two miles downstream from the accident. Survivors were being treated in hospital for hypothermia, he said, while the search for the remaining missing people continued.

Boats docked at the side of the river turned their searchlights on to the water to help the hunt for survivors, while a film crew that had been filming on Liberty Bridge, downstream from the accident site, also turned their lights on to the water, the website index.hu reported.

A rescue diver told Hungarian television that the water in the Danube was only about 10-12C. There had been thunderstorms and heavy rain throughout the afternoon and evening before the accident.

The boat was found after several hours of searching near the Marguerite Bridge, which connects the old city of Buda and the district of Pest, local media said. Access to the river was blocked by the authorities, according to local television.

South Korea’s president Moon Jae-in instructed officials to “deploy all available resources” for the rescue, the presidential office said.

Hungarian news outlets identified the boat that sank as the Mermaid, described as one of the smaller boats in the fleet of the company that owns it. It has two decks and a capacity of 60, or 45 for sightseeing cruises. The owner told Hungarian news agencies that the boat had completely sunk.

Hundreds of boats ply the Danube in and around Budapest each day, from small sightseeing boats to larger river cruises which dock in the city before continuing along the river.