Baby Girl Dies In 11th-Floor Fall From Cruise Ship Docked In San Juan, Puerto Rico
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — Police said a one-year-old girl fell to her death from the 11th story of a cruise ship after apparently slipping from her grandfather's hands.
The Royal Caribbean cruise ship Freedom of the Seas, based in Miami, had been docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico when the incident happened, police said.
The death occurred Sunday afternoon at the Panamerican dock.
Authorities said the girl was traveling with her parents, two siblings and two sets of grandparents aboard the ship, which docked in Puerto Rico on Sunday after a weeklong trip through the Caribbean.
Police Sgt. Nelson Sotelo said that the family of the girl will remain in the U.S. territory until the investigation is complete. He said officers have not been able to interview any relatives yet.
"They're in shock," he said.
Sotelo said the toddler's maternal grandfather, Salvatore Anello of Valparaiso, Indiana, is under investigation. He said the rest of the family is from Granger, Indiana.
The South Bend Police Department said in a statement that the girl was the daughter of Officer Alan Wiegand and asked "the community to pray for the entire Wiegand family as they grieve and to respect their privacy."
The police chief of South Bend, Indiana, Scott Ruszkowski, disputed the statement issued by Puerto Rico police that the girl was being held out of a window in an interview with WSBT television.
Puerto Rico Ports Authority spokesman José Carmona told the AP that the family was gathered in or near a dining hall on the 11th floor and that the grandfather sat the toddler on the edge of a window. He said officials are investigating whether the window was already opened or if someone had opened it.
Royal Caribbean Cruises called it a tragic incident and said it was helping the family.
A spokeswoman said the ship departed Puerto Rico on Monday for St. Maarten on a new itinerary and declined further comment.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)