Eyewitnesses report that a father jumped into the ocean on Sunday afternoon to rescue his daughter, who had fallen from the fourth deck of a Disney cruise ship en route from the Bahamas to the U.S.
Video footage shows passengers applauding as both were pulled aboard a rescue vessel after reportedly spending approximately 10 minutes in the water.
According to witnesses, the incident occurred when the girl appeared to fall while her father was taking her picture near a railing. A “man overboard” alert was issued, and crew members responded swiftly to recover them.
“The ship was moving so fast, it’s crazy how quickly the people became tiny dots in the sea, and then you lost sight of them,” stated passenger Laura Amador.
She further told CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner, that the captain slowed and turned the ship around, deploying a smaller vessel to retrieve the father and daughter.
The identities of the individuals involved have not yet been released to the public. Several U.S. news outlets are describing the girl as a child.
The Disney Dream, which can accommodate 4,000 passengers, was returning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after a four-day voyage around the Bahamas.
Disney has confirmed the rescue of two passengers in a statement but provided limited details regarding the circumstances.
“The Crew aboard the Disney Dream swiftly rescued two guests from the water,” a Disney Cruise Line spokesperson stated. “We commend our Crew Members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within minutes.”
Passenger Gar Frantz, who witnessed the incident, told NBC News, “We watched it, you could see two little things…it was crazy, it was horrific,” describing how the two entered the ocean and nearly disappeared on the horizon.
The event transpired on the final day of the cruise, and the ship subsequently returned to port in Florida as scheduled.
While passenger falls from cruise ships are infrequent, successful rescues are uncommon.
According to a 2019 Cruise Lines International Association report, 25 individuals fell overboard from cruise ships that year, with only nine being successfully rescued from the water.
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