January 07, 2006

IRISH TEEN STILL MISSING FROM CRUISE SHIP



CANCUN, Mexico (AP) -- Officials were searching Saturday for a 15-year-old girl from Ireland who they said fell off of a cruise ship near Isla Mujeres, a Caribbean island near Cancun that is popular with tourists.

The Costa Magica cruise ship was 26 miles away from the island in the pre-dawn hours Thursday when the teen fell into the Caribbean, according to the ship's captain, Guisseppo Russo.

Russo identified the victim as Lincey O'Brien and did not divulge her hometown. Newspapers in the missing teen's native Ireland spelled her first name Lynsey, however, and reported she was from Dublin.

Rough sea conditions had slowed the search, said Genaro Medina, a federal official at the office of the port captain on Isla Mujeres. While air rescue efforts continued via Mexican coast guard helicopters, officials were no longer optimistic about finding the victim alive.

"It's really difficult (to believe) the young woman is alive," Medina said. "The impact could have caused an instantaneous death since the distance between the railing from where she fell and the water is 30 to 40 meters."

Local authorities said the ship left Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on January 1 and planned to spend a week visiting sites in the so-called Riviera Maya near Cancun before heading to Cuba. It had been scheduled to arrive at the island of Cozumel, south of Isla Mujeres, early Thursday morning but was delayed because of the search.

The Italian-flagged Costa Magica is part of the fleet of Costa Cruises, which is controlled by Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator.

A spokesman for Carnival confirmed that a passenger had gone overboard, but referred calls for further comment to Costa Cruises in Hollywood, Florida, where no one could immediately be reached for comment.


How does one FALL from a Cruise Ship??? That thought still boggles my mind...




1 comment:

Michelle Says So 2.0 said...

It's called an ANALOGY you idiot.

Go back to your little cave with your tribe of idiots and do whatever it is you do.