Tragic Story Behind Little Girls Fall From Cruise Ship

The family of Indiana toddler who fell to her death from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship have blamed the liner for her death, saying she died by falling through a window which had been left open in the kids’ play area.

Little Chloe Wiegand died after falling from the Freedom of the Seas ship onto a concrete dock in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sunday afternoon.

Local officials initially said she had been in her grandfather Salvatore ‘Sam’ Anello’s arms and that he lost his grip on her, reports Daily Mail.

They were on the 11th floor of the ship where there is a kids’ pool known as the ‘H20 zone’. It is an outdoor play area but is encased by two walls of windows on either side.

A lawyer hired by the family revealed that Anello had put Chloe up on a wooden railing to let her bang on the glass, as she loved to do at her older brothers’ ice hockey games in Indiana, not realizing that the window was in fact open.

ship window

When she leaned forward to pound her hands on it, she went straight through the open space and plummeted to the ground below, letting out a ‘blood curdling’ scream as she fell, according to witnesses.

The lawyer said that Anello simply did not see that the window was open when he propped Chloe up against it but he ‘absolutely had not’ been drinking.

‘We’ve all had that experience where someone walks into a glass door thinking it’s not there. This is the inverse of that,’ Michael Winkleman, the family’s lawyer, said on Tuesday.

He said the windows should not have been able to open at all given that they are in a children’s area and so high up on the ship.

Winkleman called it a ‘preventable tragedy’ and said the window should never have been open so high up.

‘What was preventable here was really, why would you ever put windows that passengers could open.

‘It was reasonable for him to think this was all glass.

‘From his perspective it was all glass,’ he added.

‘I do think there is going to be blame and significant blame on the cruise line.

‘I will do everything I can to hold them accountable for what appears to me to be negligence,’ he added.

Our thoughts are with the family. What a terrible tragedy.

Share your comments below

28 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 09 May 2023
    11:26 am
I know this is tragic and I know that when people face things like this they like to lay blame but my question is…how high was this window and ledge? If the grandfther had not placed her there could she have reached that window on her own or was it too high for children to reach? Sadly the truth is that children should never be put on a ledge and the only place you put children is on the ground. If placing them on something you need to hold on to them at all times. I think this was just a horrible accident and not really anyones fault as such.

- - Mummyofone77 said
  - 20 Dec 2019
    4:34 am
Ahh a tragic story to follow

- - Ellen said
  - 19 Aug 2019
    7:36 am
How tragic is this ! My heart goes out to the family.

- - neat22 said
  - 18 Aug 2019
    4:15 pm
So sad. Of all the windows he held her up to it was the open one. There should be warning signs on checking the windows.
He physically picked her up to hold her to glass so it’s his ownership but so tragic.

- - ella12 said
  - 31 Jul 2019
    12:47 pm
So so sad. Just horrible. RIP little one.

- - serotonin said
  - 13 Jul 2019
    8:06 pm
Very sad. I’m glad I have a fear of heights and being near windows, no way I’d go near one closed, or let my child bang on it. Such a horrible mistake that will haunt them forever. R.I.P. beautiful one. 🙁

- - MisChip said
  - 12 Jul 2019
    1:06 am
This is such an awful tragedy – but why do we always have to point the finger and find someone to blame. It does seem like an odd thing to do though; to lift the child up onto the railing so that she could bang on the glass.

- - mom19782016 said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    2:59 pm
Oh I’m so heart broken. RIP little angel

- - tessie said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    2:37 pm
This was such a terrible tragedy that could have been avoided. To me the Cruise Liner was not the only one at fault. If Chloe had not been allowed to bang on the glass this wouldn’t have happened either. No matter who is to blame it won’t unfortunately bring young Chloe back. My heart goes out to the family of Chloe. RIP little angel

- - mom376182 said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    10:58 am
This is so very sad. I agree, I do not understand why you would put a window that can open in a children’s area that is also 11 floors up. Not to mention, cruise ships occasionally go through rough water and tip from side to side. This seems like an accident waiting to happen.

- - rovermum said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    9:14 am
There is no winner here. It is a tragedy whichever way you look at it and a family has lost their little girl.

- - Gwen2620 said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    7:52 am
Very sad BUT the grandfather taking no blame. Always some else’s fault.

- - AmbieBambi said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    7:27 am
How tragic! The poor grandfather would feel so bad

- - musicmum said
  - 11 Jul 2019
    2:57 am
I hope all cruise ships will now look at the designs of their ships and make sure that they are safe for children. So tragic for the family.

- - mom265671 said
  - 10 Jul 2019
    11:07 pm
Sooo heartbreaking

- - tweetylove said
  - 10 Jul 2019
    10:35 pm
Poor family & grandfather this heartbreaking.

- - mom71495 said
  - 10 Jul 2019
    8:53 pm
I am so sorry for your loss. She looked so beautiful and it broke my heart to read what happened to her. May she RIP and may you and your family find peace from this terrible and tragic occurrence. It made me feel so sad to read. The cruise ship should be held accountable. They should not have windows that can open at such a high level, they should be sealed so no one can get hurt. They have been negligent.

- - MrsA said
  - 10 Jul 2019
    8:18 pm
Everything about this just makes me sad!

- - BellaB said
  - 10 Jul 2019
    7:28 pm
Dreadfully sad, whoever is ultimately responsible.

- - nadine_hill said
  - 10 Jul 2019
    6:03 pm
Such a tragedy! Why would the windows be open in a kids area, regardless if they were deemed safe or not … ?? This is heartbreaking!