A tourist ship with 238 people on board has become stranded on the Danube River near the city of Vidin in Bulgaria due to low water levels.
The Bulgarian Interior Ministry announced that 186 passengers and 52 crew members were safely evacuated by border guard teams.
The Swiss-flagged ship "Viking Ullur" became stranded at around 02:20 in the morning, about 25 kilometers from Vidin. According to authorities, the incident occurred at night, when visibility was limited, and the main cause is suspected to have been the unusually low level of the Danube.
For safety reasons, the passengers were transferred by border guard boats. The company operating the ship had attempted to bring another boat to transport them, but it was unable to get close to the stranded vessel.
The Viking Ullur was sailing on the Budapest-Romania route and carrying tourists from various European Union countries. The ship was expected to stop at the port of Vidin for fuel supply, while according to sources, its drinking water reserves were running low.
Footage released by Bulgarian police shows passengers wearing life jackets being helped onto lifeboats. The incident comes as Europe grapples with high temperatures and drought, causing the level of the Danube, one of the continent's most important rivers, to drop significantly.
