Cruise Boat Captain Denies Blame in Hungary Collision

The captain of a passenger cruiser that collided with a boat that capsized killing South Korean tourists on board denies having broken any rules or committing a criminal office, his lawyer said in a statement cited by state news agency MTI on Friday.

Hungarian police said late on Thursday they had taken into custody the captain of the 440-foot (135-metre) cruise ship, which hit and sank the smaller pleasure boat. It was so far unclear what caused the accident.

In the statement the lawyer said treating the 64-year-old Ukrainian captain as a suspect was "premature, at the moment not more than a theory" as experts' opinions were not yet available.

Reporting by Krisztina Than