4 cruise passengers dead following separate vehicle crashes in Belize
A third cruise passenger has died as a result of a van crash in Belize last week, and another cruise passenger died from a separate accident in the country.
Andrew Ramirez, senior superintendent of police at the Belize Police Department, confirmed to USA TODAY that seven people died during the first crash: three American citizens and four Belize citizens. The Americans were Jacqueline Abad, Sara Armijo and Adrian Armijo. Carolyn Moxley Gillis was the other American who died in the second crash, according to NBC 5 and WFAA.
The U.S. State Department confirmed there were U.S. citizen casualties from both incidents.
The first: Two Carnival Cruise Line passengers died in a van crash while on an independent tour in Belize on Wednesday and five Carnival passengers were injured. The incident was first characterized as a bus crash.
The passengers were traveling on the Carnival Vista, a seven-day trip that left Galveston, Texas, on Nov. 23 and was sent to return there Nov. 30.
An MSC Cruises passenger also died in the Wednesday van crash and five other MSC passengers were injured.
“As soon as this incident came to our attention, we immediately disembarked two staff members from MSC Meraviglia to provide close support to our affected passengers and flew in a team of three care team members from our Fort Lauderdale US office,” Paige Rosenthal, senior PR specialist at MSC Cruises, told USA TODAY. “We are in close contact with the authorities, as well as the relevant embassy and consular services, and our first priority now is to ensure the swift repatriation of the deceased. As for the injured, we will make sure they can return to their families soonest.”
The next day, a Royal Caribbean passenger died during a separate crash near Orange Walk, Belize. “Our sincere condolences go out to those affected by the tragic loss of our guest who was involved in a fatal vehicle accident during an independent shore excursion in Belize,” Melissa Charbonneau, director of corporate reputation at Royal Caribbean, told USA TODAY in a statement.
Previously:2 cruise passengers dead, 5 injured after Belize tour bus crash
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