Memorial service for duck boat victims

A private memorial service will be held Saturday at Penn's Landing for two Hungarian students killed when a city-owned barge collided with a sightseeing boat.

Dora Schwendtner, 16, and Szablcs "Szeb" Prem, died in Philadelphia Wednesday when the tourist so-called duck boat they were riding sank to the bottom of the Delaware River. Thirty-seven people were plunged into the water.

Schwendtner's body was discovered early Friday morning near the S.S. United States in South Philadelphia.

A crane hoisted the wreckage of the duck boat from the river Friday afternoon off Penn's Landing. Shortly after, a body believed to be Prem's was found in the water nearby.

The memorial service - to be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Independence Seaport Museum - will be for survivors, host families, friends and others directly involved with the rescue effort.

A subdued Mayor Nutter announced the service at a news conference Friday night at the Delaware River Rink.

He said a "public component" would follow the service on Penn's Landing with a laying of wreaths and the release of doves.

"We'll do all we can do to work with those families," Nutter said.

Nutter said he spoke to passengers of the ill-fated vessel on Thursday.

"It is very painful to have something like this happen," Nutter said, adding that he heard several accounts of the accident from survivors and witnesses.

Of the 35 who survived, "it is quite frankly a bit of a miracle," Nutter said.

Nutter said he had just left a meeting where he had been updated on the ongoing investigation by National Transportation Safety Board.