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2 Hungarians identified as Pa. boat crash victims

PHILADELPHIA — The bodies of two missing Hungarians who were aboard a tourist boat that was hit by a barge and sank into the Delaware River this week were recovered, and investigators were set to continue their search today for clues about the collision.

The body of 16-year-old Dora Schwendtner was spotted by crew on a fishing boat before dawn Friday about two miles downriver from the site of Wednesday's crash.

The second body was retrieved later in the day, after a barge brought in to help to lift the duck boat off the river's bottom was moved, and was identified late Friday as that of Szablcs Prem, 20, the other missing Hungarian tourist.

The six-wheeled duck boat, carrying 35 passengers and two crew, had been stopped five to 10 minutes before the crash. Crew members told investigators they shut off the engine after white smoke that smelled like burning rubber came out of the hood.

Investigators are left with several questions: How did the crash happen? What caused the duck boat to spew smoke? Did its skipper let other vessels know it was adrift? Did the captain and crew of the tug boat pushing the empty barge know — or should they have known — the duck boat was idle in the water, its anchor deployed?

Interviews with the five crew on the tug were scheduled for today.

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