UPDATE: 12 P.M. | JULY 8
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The toddler from Indiana who died after falling from a cruise ship in Puerto Rico is the daughter of South Bend police officer Alan Weigand, Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski confirmed to WSBT-TV.
The 18-month old girl slipped out of her grandfather’s arms on Sunday while the cruise ship Freedom of the Seas was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The little girl fell 150 feet — 11 stories — and landed on concrete. She was taken to a hospital but did not survive.
Chief Ruszkowski told WSBT that the girl was not held out of a window, as some news agencies have reported.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, which operates Freedom of the Seas, called it a “tragic incident” and said they were helping the family.
The official Twitter account for Puerto Rico’s Department of Safety said (translated from Spanish):
“We regret the sad event that occurred on the cruise ship Freedom of the Seas and stand in solidarity with the family of the girl who died.”
The incident is still under investigation.
ORIGINAL STORY FROM WIBC
The 18-month old girl slipped out of her grandfather’s arms on Sunday while aboard the Freedom of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, reports Telemundo Puerto Rico.
“(We heard) the screams of the families because we were close,” a witness told the media outlet. “I looked because of the mother’s cry. That tonality, a scream of pain of that nature, does not compare with any other scream.”
The little girl fell 150 feet — 11 stories — and landed on concrete. She was taken to a hospital but did not survive.
The girl’s name and hometown have not been released to the public.
(Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
