15 year old girl overboard

[Krazy Kruizers]

Did you hear about the 15 year Irish girl who fell overboard while on the Costa Magica?

 

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0106/mexico.html

[Himself]

That is a sad story. I do not hold out too much hope for finding her alive.

Her poor parents must be beside themselves. They need all the prayers they can get

[Randyk47]

That's terrible. Relatively speaking cruising is a pretty safe environment but unfortunately accidents happen from time to time. I've seen kids, and adults for that matter, doing the "Titantic....I'm king of the world" thing on ships occasionally but generally people are pretty careful. Just horrible to think about a young girl potentially losing her life while on what might have been the family's dream vacation. :(

[dot73]

Sad story. I feel awful for her her family. More sensationalism for the media who are going crazy with RCCL honeymooner story.

I still don't understand how a person could just "fall overboard" without doing some foolish or being pushed. I guess it is going to come to the point where there will have to be surveillance cameras everyone on the ships.

[Copper10-8]

Very sad to hear about that. Unfortunately, not much hope to find her alive. :( Not a lot of aerial search and rescue assets in that area either, very unfortunate! And you're right Dot, the media is going to have a field day with it.

[lougee1043]

<<<A search operation is continuing off Mexico's Yucatan peninsula for an Irish teenager who fell overboard from a cruise ship in the early hours of yesterday morning.>>>

 

what is early hours -- to me its 2 -3 or 4 am -- what is a 15 year old and an 11 year old doing on deck at that hour alone

[Krazy Kruizers]

Early hours always means 2 - 3 - 4 AM to me as well. If that is the case, wonder what they were doing out alone?? Where were the parents at that hour??

 

So far nothing about it has been on our news yet.

[lka1012]

I think of all the stupid (and dangerous) things I did as a teenager and it is a wonder I survived. I feel so bad for the family.

[Casshew]

I'd really like to know more of the circumstances... it is just so hard to imagine it happening. Poor girl :(

[NORTHSHOREPAIR]

Any further news?

[Copper10-8]

Any further news?

 

[/url] 07/01/06

Family’s Caribbean nightmare

By Seán McCárthaigh and Mary Regan

HOPES for an Irish teenager who fell overboard a luxury cruise liner in the Caribbean are fading as an ongoing rescue operation yesterday failed to discover any trace of the missing student.

 

The Mexican coastguard is expected to wind down the search over the weekend for Dublin schoolgirl Lynsey O’Brien, 15, who was seen falling over a railing from the upper deck of the Costa Magica in the early hours of Thursday morning

 

It is understood that her 11-year-old sister, Imelda was with the transition year student at the time of her disappearance.

 

She notified her parents, Paul and Sandra O’Brien, and they immediately alerted the ship’s crew. An emergency operation was swiftly put into operation as an alarm was raised with the Mexican coastguard.

 

Lynsey, from Fortfield Road, Terenure, was on a dream holiday with her family to celebrate the end of the Christmas holidays, before returning to school next week.

 

She had flown with her parents, two sisters and brother last weekend to Florida, before leaving for a seven-day cruise around the Caribbean on Monday from the ship’s embarkation point at Fort Lauderdale.

 

The incident happened on the fourth day of the cruise as the ship was in international waters around 20 miles off the Mexican coast. It was heading to berth at the island port of Cozumel near the popular tourist resort of Cancun in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

A helicopter and patrol boats from the Mexican coastguard rushed to the scene. However, a major search of the area with the use of torchlight discovered no trace of the missing student.

 

The Mexican authorities gave the Costa Magica permission to continue its voyage after it had spent six hours at the scene of the search.

 

It is believed that Lynsey fell from an upper deck of the liner at around 2am local time (8am Irish time) on Thursday morning as she was returning to her cabin.

 

Darkness and the delay required to turn the large vessel around also hindered the rescue attempt.

 

Although the Costa Magica broadcasts a live webcam from two points on the vessel, it is not believed that they will provide any clues as to how Lynsey fell overboard.

 

The search continued yesterday in an area off Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula although it is believed that Lynsey’s family continued with the ship to Cozumel.

 

A spokesperson for the Italian cruise liner company that operates the vessel, Costa, said it would carry out its own investigation into how the accident occurred.

 

In Dublin, friends of the missing schoolgirl gathered at Loreto High School in Beaufort, Rathfarnham, to discuss news of her disappearance.

 

A special service was held to pray for her safe return, while school principal Liz Cogan also arranged for a counsellor for Lynsey’s distraught classmates.

 

“It is a difficult time for all of us,” said Ms Cogan. “She was a popular, great youngster, who loved dancing and drama and sports such as basketball.”

 

One of Lynsey’s friends revealed that the transition year student had hopes of going on to become a professional beautician.

 

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that they were providing consular assistance to the family of the missing girl.

 

Lynsey’s accident is the latest chapter in a controversy surrounding the growing number of people who have mysteriously vanished off cruise ships in recent years.

 

A US congressional hearing was staged last month to investigate the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of more than a dozen people on cruise holidays since 2003.

 

However, a spokesperson for Costa said Lynsey’s case was “completely different”.

 

“It was an accident,” he stressed.

 

 

[Ziggy7]

Such a shame! Poor parents!

[chasetf]

I still cannot see how anyone can "fall" overboard unless foul play or stupidity is involved. That said, wonder which one fits this case. :confused:

[Lanson5]

This is an extreme tragedy and I can only imagine how this family is dealing with this. My wife and I were actually just on the Westerdam and the Magica was in Port on the day we returned. We noticed what a beautiful ship it was since we were looking directly at it right across from our balcony. It was the next morning while we were in Ft Lauderale that the story was on the news. It was a completly different story than the one above. The local news in Ft Lauderdale reported that the 15 year old had been drinking with her older sister in their private cabin and they also stated that she fell from their balcony. They interviewed two younger people and they both stated that she fell from their balcony and hit a lifeboat before hitting the water. Obviously my wife and I were both shocked, since we had just been staring at that ship the day before. The local news also stated that this was the 12th person to be lost off of a ship in the last two years. Other than the newlywed couple, we had never heard of any. Either way.....just an awful tragedy for that poor family. I really feel for them.