17 injured after river cruise ship hits wall in northern Austria

Seventeen people suffered varying degrees of injury after a Bulgarian cruise ship transiting the Danube River struck the side of a lock in northern Austria on Friday, March 29.

The unidentified vessel, which had more than 140 passengers embarked, was sailing along the Danube near the municipality of Aschach an der Donau when it lost power and crashed into a concrete wall at around 21:45 local time on Friday.

The ship’s power was later restored, allowing it to resume sailing on its original voyage. However, the crash resulted in eleven passengers suffering injuries that required hospitalisation.

Another six individuals suffered less severe injuries and were therefore not brought to hospital.

A police spokeswoman said the ship had earlier departed Bavaria in Germany and was en route to the city of Linz just 23 kilometres from where the crash occurred.

Officials have yet to provide any details on the extent of the damage suffered by both the lock and the vessel.