Officials halt search for Carnival Cruise passenger in her 20s who fell overboard

Passengers suspect ‘foul play’

Cruise Ship Passenger Overboard (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A woman fell into the ocean from a Carnival Cruise Line ship balcony on Saturday, prompting an international search effort, which has since been called off.

Footage of the woman in her 20s falling from the fifth-floor balcony of her cabin was captured on security cameras, taking place in the Pacific Ocean near Ensenada, Mexico.

The US Coast Guard and the Mexican navy searched for the woman for 31 hours, before halting the rescue mission.

Following the accident, the Carnival Miracle boat returned to Long Beach, so authorities could conduct a proper investigation.

“After 31+ hours of searching, #USCG assets are standing down pending additional information,” the coastguard posted on its official Twitter account. “USCG conducted first light searches this morning off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico with negative results. USCG assets are transiting back to US waters.”

There were more than 1,100 passengers on the ship at the time of the accident, who were awoken with an alert that said: “Man overboard! Man overboard! Man overboard!”

A paramedic onboard has suggested “foul play”.

“Someone has lost their life, whether it was done by accident or by foul play I don’t know,” Daniel Miranda, a Northern California firefighter paramedic on board the ship, told CBS Los Angeles. “There’s some high suspicion of foul play.”

The woman who fell overboard is now presumed dead. Carnival Cruise Line has issued a statement about the incident: “Our thoughts are with the guest and her family, and our Care Team is providing support.”

When a “man overboard” incident happens, cruise ships will pinpoint the place where the person went into the water and turn the boat back. Crew are required to perform an initial search as they notify the emergency services. The FBI will be tasked with conducting an investigation, the Bureau has jurisdiction in other coastal waters. There is no central body that tracks man overboard figures, data from research conducted by Associate Professor of Social Work at Memorial University, Ross A. Klein, found that 325 people have gone overboard on cruise ships and ferries in the past 18 years.

The Independent has contacted Carnival Cruise for further updates.