Child falls to death from 11th deck of cruise ship
A toddler has died after falling 150ft from Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas as it was in port.
According to reports, the 18-month-old girl plunged from the 11th deck at about 4.30pm local time on Sunday.
She fell onto the concrete dock in San Juan, Puerto Rico and was taken to hospital but pronounced dead a short time later.
Local news outlet Primera Hora says she was from Indiana in the US and had been on holiday with her parents and grandparents.
Police say the incident is being treated as an accident.
Elmer Roman, from the local Department of Public Security, said: "Police have now launched an investigation and are trawling CCTV of the ship."
He described what happened as ‘very sad and tragic’.
The ship, which holds around 4,000 passengers, was ending a seven-day Southern Caribbean cruise of Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados when the tragedy struck.
Freedom of the Seas is the 15th largest passenger ship in the world.
Royal Caribbean issued a statement saying: "We are deeply saddened by yesterday‘s tragic incident, and our hearts go out to the family.
"We’ve made our Care Team available to assist the family with any resources they need. Out of respect for their privacy, we do not plan to comment further on the incident."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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