A toddler has reportedly died after slipping out of her grandfather’s arms on a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico.
The 19-month-old girl from Indiana fell 150 feet from the Royal Caribbean ship in San Juan on Sunday afternoon.
Her grandfather is believed to have slipped and fallen while holding the child by a window on the 11th deck of the Freedom of the Seas ship.
The child fell on the concrete dock below. The toddler died in hospital shortly afterwards.
The child was aboard the Freedom of the Seas cruise ship vacationing with both her sets of grandparents, her parents and her younger brother.
The child’s father has been identified by WSBT as South Bend police officer Alan Wiegand.
The South Bend Police Department in Indiana said in a statement: ‘The South Bend Police Department offers its sincerest condolences to Officer Alan Wiegand and his family during this difficult time following the tragic loss of their child while in Puerto Rico. The department asks the community to pray for the entire Wiegand family as they grieve and to respect their privacy.’
A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. said: ‘We are assisting local authorities in San Juan, PR as they make inquiries after an incident aboard Freedom of the Seas earlier today.
‘We do not have further information to share at this point.’
According to the family, the child would have turned 2 in December.
Absolutely tragic.