A body was found on Friday in the Hortobágy-Berettyó River, in the section where a university student from Debrecen went missing after a boat accident on September 30. The Hajdú-Bihar County Police Headquarters provided the following information to haon.hu:
Update: On Saturday, the police confirmed that the body found was that of the missing university student from Debrecen.
“Fish wardens reported on Friday morning that they had found a deceased man in the Püspökladány section of the Hortobágy-Berettyó main canal. The on-site examination and the identification of the body are currently ongoing, and the circumstances of the death are under investigation. We do not wish to provide further information at this time.”
Until the identification was completed, it was uncertain whether the body was that of 25-year-old Máté Huttmann, who disappeared in the boat accident on September 30.
According to earlier information, at the time of the accident, there were two PhD students from the University of Debrecen, a lecturer from the Department of Hydrobiology, and a representative of a fisheries company on the boat. As confirmed by Ildikó M. Tóth from the university’s press office:
“They were conducting fish biology research related to their doctoral studies in the area of the Ágota emergency sluice gate on the Hortobágy-Berettyó main canal when a whirlpool pulled their boat under.”
Authorities are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the tragic incident.
