Budapest: Hungarian police say divers have recovered a ninth body from the Danube River accident in which a sightseeing boat sank after colliding with a large cruise ship.

Police said on Monday night, Hungary time, the body belonged to a male victim and was found downstream from Budapest at the southern village of Harta, 110 kilometres by road from the Hungarian capital.

Rescuers in inflatable boats transport what appear to be bodies of victims, near the Margaret Bridge where a sightseeing boat capsized in the Danube river in Budapest, Hungary, Credit:AP

The victim's nationality was not made public. The sightseeing boat carried tourists from South Korea and two Hungarian crew.

Earlier, the body of the eighth victim was recovered from the crash site on the river.

Only seven of the 35 people on the tour boat are known to have survived Wednesday night's collision near the Hungarian Parliament building, while 19 people on board remain missing.

Hungarian officials say exploratory dives begun in the river on Monday in attempts to recover any bodies still in the sightseeing boat that sank last week carrying Korean tourists.

A musical group perform a lament in tribute to the victims on the banks of the Danube River on Saturday.Credit:AP

Janos Hajdu, head of the Hungarian agency leading the salvage operations, said that the river's speed had slowed slightly but it was still very hard for divers to move in it. He added that Hungarian divers weren't allowed to enter the sunken boat.

Seven of the 35 people on board were rescued, nine bodies have now been recovered and the rest are still missing.  The Hableany (Mermaid) collided on Wednesday night with a large river cruise ship at Budapest's Margit Bridge, capsized and sank in about seven seconds.

People watch a rescue vessel near the Margit bridge on the Danube river where a sightseeing boat had capsized in Budapest, Hungary.Credit:AP

Hajdu said the wreckage was located nine metres deep, about 3 metres lower that previously reported by the government.

Hajdu added that a floating crane able to lift 200 tonnes and which would be able to hoist the boat out of the water was expected at the scene within days.

AP

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