A parent’s worst nightmare, unfortunately, came through during a family vacation.  A little girl died after falling off a cruise ship in Puerto Rico, authorities said.


Visit streaming.thesource.com for more information

The 1½-year-old plunged from the 11th floor of a Royal Caribbean “Freedom of the Seas” ship Sunday while it was docked in San Juan, Telemundo PR reported.

Puerto Rico’s Department of Public Safety confirmed the girl’s death.

Advertisement

The South Bend, Indiana police department said the girl was the child of one of their officers, Alan Wiegand. “The department asks the community to pray for the entire Wiegand family as they grieve and to respect their privacy,” a statement from the police force said.

The ship was scheduled to depart for a weeklong voyage at 8:30 p.m. Sunday; the fall happened about 5 p.m., according to Carmona.
“We are deeply saddened by yesterday’s tragic incident, and our hearts go out to the family,” Royal Caribbean Cruises said. “We’ve made our Care Team available to assist the family with any resources they need. Out of respect for their privacy, we do not plan to comment further on the incident.”
Local police are still investigating the incident, which preliminarily has been determined to be an accident, Carmona said. The girl’s body was taken to a forensic unit in San Juan.
Puerto Rican Secretary for Public Affairs Anthony Maceira Zayas tweeted Sunday to confirm reports of the girl’s death and give his condolences.
“We pray to the Lord to fill this family with strength, who are experiencing a real tragedy today,” he wrote in Spanish.

The Department of Public Safety also expressed its sadness over the incident in a Facebook post. It said that police and forensics staff, as well as several other government departments, are working to address the situation.