An 11-story fall kills infant held by her grandfather aboard cruise ship
The child is believed to have fallen onto the concrete below while the cruise ship was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Royal Caribbean International is cooperating as officials continue to investigate the death of Chloe Wiegand, the Indiana toddler who fell to her death from an open window on a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico earlier this month.
In their first televised interview, released yesterday, heartbroken parents Kimberley and Alan Wiegand revealed that the family will be taking Royal Caribbean to court for "not having a safer situation on the 11th floor of that cruise ship."
“We have a lot of questions - primarily, why is there an open window in the kids play area 11 stories off the ground?” devastated mother Kimberly told NBC’s "Today" on July 22.
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On July 7, 18-month-old Chloe reportedly slipped from the hands of her grandfather, Salvetore “Sam” Anello, as he held the toddler of an 11th-floor window lining a child’s play area of the ocean liner, according to the New York Post, citing Puerto Rican authorities and reports.
The family’s attorney Michael Winkleman said that Chloe asked Anello to lift her up to bang on the glass window – and that that she fell through when the window that had inexplicably been left open.
The fatality occurred on the Freedom of the Seas ship.
Now, the Wiegand family of Granger argues that the window – located in what’s known as the H2O Zone of the ship, as per "Today," and used to ventilate the area – never should have been open in the first place.
"The grandfather didn't drop the child, the child fell due to an open glass pane that should have been closed securely," Winkleman, a Miami-based attorney representing the girl's family, said earlier this month. "Her grandfather thought there was glass just like everywhere else, but there was not, and she was gone in an instant.”
This file photo photo shows the Freedom of the Seas cruise ship docked in New Jersey. Kimberley Wiegand, the mother of an 18-month-old Indiana girl who fell to her death from an open window on the cruise ship in Puerto Rico, told NBC’s “Today” show Monday, July 22, 2019 that her family will sue Royal Caribbean Cruises for “not having a safer situation on the 11th floor of that cruise ship.” (AP Photo/Mike Derer, File)
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"There's no doubt this was an accident. Really the singular question is, were there safety measures that could have been in place and should have been in place?” the lawyer told Today on Monday. “If they were in place, again, there would have been no tragedy."
Though Royal Caribbean Cruises did not immediately return Fox News’ request for additional comment on the story, a spokesperson for the cruise line confirmed to The Associated Press that the company is cooperating in the investigation.
"We are deeply saddened by this incident, and our hearts go out to the family. We have assisted the authorities in San Juan with their inquiries, and they are the appropriate people to address further questions," a Royal Caribbean official said.
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Authorities in Puerto Rico have declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
“Honestly to lose our baby this way is unfathomable. I never want another mother to have to experience this, or to see what I had to see, to scream how I had to scream,” Kimberly told “Today” of her reaction to the unthinkable tragedy.
“We will never forget her, she is part of our souls,” Alan echoed.
Fox News’ Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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