An 88-year-old American woman tragically died during a Carnival cruise vacation after her mobility scooter reportedly sped off a pier and into the water in the Bahamas.
The heartbreaking incident happened on May 9 at Celebration Key, Carnival Cruise Line’s private destination in Grand Bahama, while the Carnival Celebration ship was docked nearby.
According to Carnival Cruise Line, the woman was riding a mobility scooter when she suddenly “drove off the pier at Celebration Key and fell into the water while Carnival Celebration was in port.”
Crew members and emergency responders rushed to help and were able to pull her from the water, but despite desperate attempts to revive her, she did not survive.
“Carnival teams responded, successfully retrieving her from the water. Despite resuscitation efforts, she did not survive,” the company said in a statement.
Authorities in the Bahamas later took custody of the woman’s body as investigators began piecing together exactly what happened.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force confirmed they are now investigating the death of the 88-year-old American tourist. Police said the incident happened shortly after noon local time.
Investigators believe the woman lost control of the scooter before plunging off the dock. During the terrifying fall, she reportedly struck her head against the side of the massive cruise ship before landing in the water.
“During the incident, she is believed to have struck her head against the hull of the vessel before entering the water,” police said.
A local physician later pronounced her dead.
Passengers onboard the cruise ship described the shocking scene as chaos unfolded near the pier.
Fellow traveler Edward Egersheim claimed the woman may have suffered a medical emergency moments before the crash.
“She had a heart attack, went off with the scooter, and banged her head pretty bad and then her husband tried to do what he could, and he ended up hurting himself as well,” he told Miami station WSVN.
Another passenger, Linsy Egersheim, said the tragedy completely changed the mood onboard the ship.
“It’s vacation, you don’t expect bad things to happen, but definitely getting back on the boat was really sad,” she said. “We walked past the scooter and all you could think about is that poor lady.”
The victim’s identity has not yet been publicly released, and officials have not determined her official cause of death.
The Carnival Celebration was in the middle of a seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise at the time of the tragedy. According to CruiseMapper, the massive ship departed Miami on May 3 and returned to Florida on May 10.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Discover more from True News Media
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.