The Royal Caribbean crew member who died after jumping off the Icon of the Seas Thursday night had stabbed a female co-worker in a “personal dispute” before taking the fatal plunge, officials said Friday.
The incident happened while the massive ship was in the waters off San Salvador Island, officials with the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) said in a news release.
“Shortly before 7:30 p.m., a 28-year-old South African female crew member was allegedly stabbed multiple times by another crew member, a 35-year-old South African male,” the statement reads in part.
The victim was treated for stab wounds to her upper body and is said to be in stable condition.
The male suspect fled the scene and jumped into the water. He was later “retrieved unresponsive and pronounced dead by onboard medical staff,” according to the RBPF.
Footage obtained by CBS News Miami appears to show crew members scrambling in a frantic attempt to save a colleague immediately after the incident.
A Royal Caribbean spokesperson confirmed in a statement that its onboard security team had “responded to an incident involving two crew members in a personal dispute.”
Without identifying the individuals involved, the spokesperson said a female crew member injured in the incident “was attended to by the onboard medical team” and was in stable condition.
“Unfortunately, the other crew member is deceased after he went overboard and was recovered in a search and rescue operation,” the spokesperson said.
The Icon of the Seas — the world’s largest cruise ship, measuring nearly 1,200 feet from bow to stern and with a capacity to carry roughly 10,000 people — was in the middle of its week-long Eastern Caribbean trip.
The ship continued its voyage as planned and arrived back in Miami around 6 a.m. Saturday, according to the ship-tracking platform Cruise Mapper.
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