The US Coast Guard is searching for a handcuffed woman who reportedly jumped from a Carnival cruise ship into Gulf of Mexico.
A woman is missing in the Gulf of Mexico after she reportedly jumped from a Carnival cruise ship — following a disturbance in a hot tub that landed her in handcuffs, according to fellow passengers.
The US Coast Guard is searching for the 32-year-old woman who went overboard the Carnival Valor, which was sailing from Cozumel, Mexico, to New Orleans on Wednesday, the New York Post reports.
One man on board the ship tweeted a video of a life preserver and a flare spewing red smoke trailing behind the ship.
Stream 25+ global & local news channels with Flash, a dedicated news streaming service. New to Flash? Try 14 days free >
Several passengers told WAFB that the woman jumped about 150 miles (241 km) off the shore of Louisiana after an incident between her and a man in the hot tub area on the 10th deck.
“Security got her out of the hot tub. Whenever they got to take her into custody, apparently she was upset and went over the rail,” Baton Rouge resident Kim Barnette told the outlet.
Darrell Morris, another passenger, said: “Apparently, she was handcuffed — she jumped over the side of the ship.”
Barnette said the woman apparently struck some lifeboats during her fall.
“There are some lifeboats there that apparently she hit on the way down. Which when it hit, it was pretty loud, and of course there was a disturbance here on the ship, which made me go on my balcony on deck 7,” the cruise passenger said.
A third passenger, who identified himself only as Randy, also told WAFB that the woman “apparently hit her head on the side of the boat.”
“And then she hit the water face first, he said.
However, the passenger accounts have not been confirmed by Carnival or the Coast Guard.
The ship was expected to arrive in New Orleans on Thursday.
The Post has reached out to the US law enforcement agency and the company.
“Carnival’s CARE team is providing support to the guest’s husband who was travelling with her,” the company said in a statement.
The incident came two months after a woman died in the Pacific Ocean after going overboard on another Carnival ship.
The FBI was investigating the incident amid allegations of foul play.
This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.
