Toddler Dies After Fall From Cruise Ship

A grandfather who was reportedly dangling his granddaughter over the edge of a cruise ship dropped the little girl, who fell around 150 feet to her death Sunday.

The 18-month-old toddler was in her grandfather’s arms on the 11th-floor deck of Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas ship when the girl fell to the concrete below while the vessel was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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Emergency crews arrived at the scene and transported the child to a local hospital at around 4:30 p.m. local time, but doctors pronounced the little girl dead a short time later. The toddler was from Indiana and on the cruise with her parents and grandparents.

Local police have a launched a formal investigation into the child’s death, but have said the incident appears to be a tragic accident. Officials are going through CCTV of the ship and interviewing passengers.

The Freedom of the Seas was at the conclusion of its seven-day Southern Caribbean cruise of Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados at the time of the tragedy.

According to the AP, Royal Caribbean “called it a tragic incident and said they were helping the family,” but did not comment any further.

It’s not the first death onboard a Royal Caribbean ship this year. In January, a passenger died falling over the balcony on the Harmony of the Seas ship.