Man Plummets Off Deck of Royal Caribbean Ship

Coast Guard searching waters near the Bahamas for 35-year-old
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 6, 2015 8:03 AM CST
Man Plummets Off Deck of Royal Caribbean Ship
This Oct. 30, 2009, file photo shows Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas departing a shipyard in Finland.   (AP Photo/Royal Caribbean, File)

A 35-year-old man on a Royal Caribbean cruise went overboard early Friday morning, and the Coast Guard is now combing the waters near the Bahamas to find him, WESH 2 reports. Officials says staff on the Oasis of the Seas ship, now on its way back to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., witnessed the man fall off the deck and into the sea. Although several reports are noting the man intentionally jumped, that's not been determined for sure yet.

"We [are] not sure how this gentleman ended up in the water," Coast Guard spokesman David Schuhlein tells the Sun Sentinel. "There's been multiple reports of whether [he was] falling or jumping and we haven't been able to confirm either." A long-range C-130 aircraft and helicopter are scouring the waters below in search of the man, Schuhlein says, adding searchers have been following drift patterns to see if they can track down where he could have ended up. (A couple was able to tread water for 14 hours after falling off their boat.)

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