A man is in a life-threatening condition after plunging on to the paved embankment beside the Danube in central Budapest, near the Pontoon entertainment venue.
Accident near popular Budapest riverside venue
The serious accident took place in the early hours of Sunday near the Pest end of the Chain Bridge. The man, believed to be aged about 40, fell on to the embankment paving and was taken to hospital by ambulance with severe injuries, Telex wrote.
Both Pontoon and the police issued statements about the incident. The venue stressed that the accident had not occurred on its premises.
“The incident did not take place within the area of Pontoon’s open-air hospitality venue, but further away, in a public space,” it said.
According to Pontoon, the man’s fall was preceded by a fight. The venue said members of the group involved had also used pepper spray. It did not, however, provide further details of what happened during the fight or the circumstances in which the man fell on to the embankment.
Police opened an investigation
The venue said it had offered immediate assistance after the accident, helped secure the scene and co-operated with the authorities. It added that, to its knowledge, the responding authorities had not linked the incident to Pontoon’s operations.
The Budapest Police Headquarters confirmed that it had received several reports at about 1.23am on August 30 that a man had fallen on to the paved embankment near the Pest end of the Chain Bridge. Officers who arrived at the scene gathered information, while paramedics took the injured man to hospital.
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Police have opened an investigation on suspicion of the criminal offence of disorderly conduct committed by a group, in an effort to establish the full circumstances of the incident. Investigators have questioned witnesses and seized CCTV footage.
Pontoon said that the investigating authorities were best placed to provide an authoritative account of the precise details, adding that the venue fully supported efforts to establish what had happened.
Source of all photos: Facebook/PONTOON
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