Boy, 16, falls to his death from Royal Caribbean cruise balcony after forgetting room card
Laurent Mercer fell as he was trying to reach his his family’s stateroom on the Royal Caribbean ship
A 16-YEAR-old-boy has fallen to his death from a luxury cruise ship while trying to climb from an eighth-floor balcony because he didn’t have his room card.
Laurent Mercer fell as he was trying to reach his his family’s stateroom on the Royal Caribbean ship, Harmony of the Seas, reports claim.
At least two fellow passengers saw the boy fall, according to social media messages posted online.
At the time, the ship was docked at the port of Labadee in Haiti on January 11 in the midst of a seven-day Caribbean cruise being taken by the boy’s family.
Laurent, from the French-speaking Wallis and Futuna islands northeast of Fiji, reportedly lost his footing while trying to climb from a balcony.
He fell onto the concrete pier below and suffered major head injuries.
'DEAD ON IMPACT'
The ship’s medical team attempted CPR, but the boy was pronounced dead from major head trauma at 11:42am on Friday.
Passenger Jaclyn Syroney wrote on Facebook: “I was on the cruise and saw him hit the concrete dock.
“It was around 11:30am. The workers were amazingly fast acting and tried to keep him alive, but I’m pretty sure he was dead on impact.
“There were also fast acting of removing his body and covering up the area so people wouldn’t see it.
“Royal Caribbean handled this situation with utmost respect for the passenger and the family.”
According to Royal Caribbean’s website, Harmony of the Seas is one of the largest ships in the world, with a capacity of 5,479 guests and 2,193 crew members.
“We are saddened by the loss of one our guests in a tragic accident,’’ Owen Torres, manager of communications for Royal Caribbean, said in a statement emailed to the Herald.
Just last month, a Brit crew member on Harmony of the Seas died after going overboard as the ship sailed from Fort Lauderdale to St. Maarten.