The man, described as being muscular, allegedly strangled the woman before tossing her from the ship's 16th deck. Photo / 123RF
The man, described as being muscular, allegedly strangled the woman before tossing her from the ship's 16th deck. Photo / 123RF
An American man has been hauled off the Royal Princess cruise ship after a woman was allegedly choked and pushed off a top deck, severing her leg and killing her, after a volatile altercation during their Caribbean getaway.
The man was hauled off the ship by investigators in Aruba on Tuesday morning in relation to the death of the 52-year-old woman, who was his partner, according to sources.
The couple were on the Royal Princess, which had embarked on an eight-day cruise around the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on November 9, MailOnline reports.
The fight reportedly began at the ship's casino, on the Lido deck on the 16th floor, around 10:30pm. Photo / 123RF
The man, described as being muscular, reportedly strangled the woman before tossing her from the ship's 16th deck.
The woman crashed down onto a lifeboat and her leg was torn off, according to horrified passengers, who said the scene was gruesome with glass everywhere.
Photos from the scene obtained by DailyMail.com show yellow tape cordoning off the area around and below the lifeboat.
A spokeswoman for Aruban prosecutors confirmed to DailyMail.com that the man taken off the boat was the woman's partner and that the woman's death is being treated as unnatural.
Local investigators have performed an autopsy to establish how the woman died. The FBI is also carrying out its own investigation.
The name of the victim and the man taken off the boat have not been released. No arrests have been made yet.
A source aboard the ship told DailyMail.com: "We are sailing the southern Caribbean. It's the ship that [British TV station] ITV used for their show The Cruise. It was two passengers they had a row in the casino that night.'
"The gossip on board is rife. We were all woken at 4.30am by a security alert by the captain. We will be at sea for two days from today heading to Fort Lauderdale."
A second source added: "We can literally see the lifeboat from our room. Blood and broken glass all over it.
Another passenger said: "We are on this ship too. Ten police officers came aboard. The announcement was a criminal investigation was to be conducted before we are given clearance. Two couples were asked repeatedly to go to customer relations."
The fight reportedly began at the ship's casino, on the Lido deck on the 16th floor, around 10:30pm.
The woman plummeted from the deck at 4am, landing on deck 7 on Lifeboat 2.
The cruise ship (pictured) has a capacity of 3600 at double occupancy. Photo / 123RF
Princess Cruises said in a statement to DailyMail.com: "Princess Cruises can confirm that a 52-year-old American female guest passed away early yesterday morning aboard Royal Princess as the ship was enroute to Aruba.
"It was reported to the local authorities who met and boarded the ship upon arrival. The cause of death is not yet known at this time.
"We are deeply saddened by this incident and offer our sincere condolences to the family and those affected."
