One-year-old Chloe Wiegand’s family is speaking out about her tragic death in Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas.
The toddler was in the children’s play area of the ship when she fell over 10 stories onto a concrete dock. According to initial reports, the girl fell out of her grandfather’s arms but the family is disputing those explanations.
Michael Winkleman, the family’s attorney, said that Chloe’s grandfather had placed her on the edge of a window. He was not aware that the window was open.
Winkleman told Today, “Essentially her grandfather lifts her up and puts her on a railing and where he thinks that there is glass there because it’s clear, but it turns out there was no glass there.
“She goes to bang on the glass like she would have at one of those hockey rinks, and the next thing you know, she’s gone.”
The lawyer said to the outlet that they believe the cruise ship is at fault.
“Why in the world would you leave a window open in an entire glass wall full of windows in a kid’s area?” he told Today.
“I mean, why would you have that kind of a hidden danger without any warning, without any sign, without any notice?”
Winkleman continued: “I do think there is going to be blame and significant blame on the cruise line, and I will do everything I can to hold them accountable, for what appears to me to be negligence.”
The cruise line said in a statement to People, “We are deeply saddened by yesterday’s tragic incident, and our hearts go out to the family. We’ve made our Care Team available to assist the family with any resources they need.
“Out of respect for their privacy, we do not plan to comment further on the incident.”
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