Toddler dies after ‘slipping from grandfather’s arms’ on cruise ship Freedom of the Seas
A child has died after reportedly slipping from her grandfather’s arms and falling 150ft from a cruise ship window.
The girl, believed to be between 18 months and two years old, fell from the 11th floor of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the Freedom of the Seas.
It was reported that her grandfather was holding her in his arms by the window when he slipped and fell, dropping her to the concrete dock below.
She died in hospital a short time later.
The ship was docked at San Juan, Puerto Rico at the time. Passengers said they heard the girl’s mother let out a “cry of pain” after the tragedy.
A passenger told Telemundo PR they heard “the screams of the families because we were close”.
“I looked because of the mother’s cry,” the witness said. “That tonality, a scream of pain of that nature, does not compare with any other scream.”
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It was reported that the child is from Indiana in the US, and that she had been on holiday with her extended family.
Both sets of her grandparents, her parents and her younger brother were also on the ship, Primera Hora reported.
An official from the department of public security said the grandfather had been playing a game with the child when she slipped from his arms.
It is understood the 11th floor of the cruise ship is a pool deck.
Freedom of the Seas is the 15th largest passenger ship in the world and can hold almost 5,000 people.
A spokesman for Royal Caribbean said the cruise company is assisting local authorities in Puerto Rico with the investigation into the child’s death.