On September 11, a cruise ship “Viking Freya” struck a rail bridge and crushed the wheelhouse killing two officers who were navigating the ship. The ship came to rest under the rail bridge and a pedestrian bridge which paralleled the rail bridge.
The river cruise ship had just left the town of Erlangen on its way to the Hungarian capital of Budapest, and was operating on the man Danube River at night when the accident occurred. The accident reportedly occurred at 1:30 A.M.
The dead officers were a 49-year-old who was at the helm of the vessel and a 33-year-old man.
There were reportedly 181 passengers and 47 other crew members on the ship at the time. No other injuries or casualties were reported.
Police said the cause of the crash was unknown and was still being investigated.
“For reasons not known so far the driver’s cabin of the ship collided with a bridge, and two crew members, 33 and 49-years-old, were killed,” police spokesman Michael Petzold said.
“The two men had to be freed with heavy equipment by firefighters.”
Passengers were left trapped on the ship for several hours while rescue teams worked to extend a rescue bridge.
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Reference: Cruise Law News, International Business Times UK
