Home > National > Social Affairs

More than 350 passengers evacuated after Han River cruise boat runs aground

Published: 29 Mar. 2026, 14:17 Updated: 29 Mar. 2026, 15:25

A joint public-private water rescue drill is conducted on the Han River near Wonhyo Bridge in Seoul on Oct. 28, 2021. Image is unrelated to the story. [NEWS1]

More than 350 passengers were evacuated after a Han River cruise boat ran aground near Banpo Bridge in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Saturday.

Fire authorities received a report at about 8:30 p.m. that the vessel was unable to move near the bridge and began rescue operations for the 359 passengers on board.

The boat is believed to have run aground on a shallow section of the riverbed about 30 minutes earlier while passing near the Rainbow Fountain. It reportedly attempted to free itself for about 30 minutes but was unsuccessful.

Fire authorities and police transferred passengers to rescue boats and moved them to shore. The rescue operation was completed at around 9:37 p.m.

No injuries were reported, but the 359 passengers on board were stranded on the vessel for more than an hour.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY SHIN HYE-YEON [[email protected]]