A family has vowed to bring legal action over the loss of their eight-year-old daughter, who fell two storeys to her death on a cruise ship last weekend.
Zion Smith, from Nassau in the Bahamas, passed away after falling from the deck of an interior atrium to a lower deck, on the Carnival Cruise ship, Glory.
The eight-year-old had just finished a week-long cruise vacation with her family: her little brother, her mother, her mother’s boyfriend, and his family.
The ship docked at Miami-Dade, in Florida, on Saturday morning; and passengers were disembarking when the accident occurred, at around 8am.
Zion is said to have fallen over a safety railing. Paramedics rushed to the scene, and she was transported to hospital in ‘extremely critical condition’. Sadly, she was pronounced dead later that day.
EXCLUSIVE: Family identifies Zion Smith, 8, as child who fell&died while on a cruise; demands answers from Carnival. https://t.co/GuZRiNOmNk pic.twitter.com/59Pj8Cc8Qc
— Liane Morejon (@LianeMorejonTV) October 16, 2017
Zion’s family have suggested that the child was thrown over the railing after a crowd trying to exit an elevator shoved forward at once, knocking the child backwards.
A relative, Damien Fox, told ABC News 10 that the family will be pressing charges – once they find out what really happened in this tragic chain of events.
“We want answers, and to see surveillance video from inside the cruise ship,” he told the news outlet.
An investigation is now underway, while management at the Carnival Cruise line has extended its condolences to the family.
Our hearts go out to the family of Zion at this time.
