ZION SMITH DIED ABOARD THE CARNIVAL GLORY.
A dream vacation turned into a nightmare for one family after an eight-year-old Bahamian girl fell to her death on a Carnival Cruise ship over the weekend.
Zion Smith was aboard the Carnival Glory docked at Port Miami when she fell two stories on Saturday around 8:15 a.m.
Emergency personnel from the Miami Dade Fire Rescue administered first aid to the child who was rushed to the Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center. However, she succumbed to her injuries.
Recounting the incident during an interview with Miami-based television station 10 WPLG, Fire Rescue Captain Ignatius Carroll said Smith was brought to the trauma centre in extremely critical condition.
Retired emergency management technician Bobb Dorr, who was among the first to perform CPR on the girl until the doctor arrived, said she had “severe injuries” as a result of the fall.
Passengers said it was traumatic experience.
Tyrone McKelvey told 7 News that when it happened, “people started screaming, people started running everywhere.”
“When we got down, we saw the body on the ground and all the blood and what not,” he added. “It was very traumatizing and devastating.”
According to reports, Smith’s family had just completed a week-long cruise when the tragedy occurred.
The ship had reportedly been scheduled to depart Florida at 4 p.m. on Saturday for The Bahamas.
Carnival Cruise Lines, in a brief statement, expressed condolences to the girl’s family, stating: “Our most heartfelt care and concern is with the family at this very difficult time.”