Second witness recounts cruise ship horror after death of Jose Sandoval Opazo
A WITNESS to a cruise ship death that has been likened to scenes from The Shining has revealed grisly new details.
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WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A WITNESS to an horrific cruise ship death which has been likened to scenes from The Shining has criticised the company’s handling of the situation.
Electrician Jose Sandoval Opazo, 66, was killed on Sunday evening while working on an elevator aboard the Carnival Ecstasy, which was on the final leg of a three-day trip out of Miami.
Grisly footage of a sheet of blood pouring down the front of the elevator as distressed passengers look on was captured by passenger Matt Davis, who said it “sounded like a rainstorm”.
Mr Davis filmed the shocking footage on the ship’s 10th floor as he and his family were heading to dinner.
In the video, a distraught man says, “No that can’t be right. No. That’s not possible”, while a crew member can be heard saying, “Come inside please.”
Sara Robinson, 25, was travelling with her mother, stepdad, sister and her boyfriend on the ship. She told news.com.au the crew member who can be heard in the video was speaking to her family.
“There were only about 10 passengers who witnessed this situation right when it was happening and saw the blood dripping, and saw it all over the carpets before they closed off the section,” she said.
“The other passengers were screaming or covering their mouths with their hands until the hostess ushered us into the restaurant — as if we could eat a meal after witnessing this.”
The exact cause is unclear and Miami Dade police are investigating.
Ms Robinson said she checked every floor before they got roped off.
“It’s actually very odd because the fifth floor had an open shaft for the crew, but the eighth floor had the most blood, [and there was] scattered blood on the seventh.”
On Thursday, Carnival spokeswoman Jayme Eglin confirmed to news.com.au that at approximately 6:15pm US eastern time on Sunday, December 27, a crew member on board the Carnival Ecstasy died while working on an elevator.
“The company extends its heartfelt sympathy to the family and loved ones of our team member,” she said. “Our CareTeam is providing support. Appropriate authorities have been notified and a full investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.”
Carnival has offered to pay for three counselling sessions for the Davis family, who appeared in a Fox News story about the accident.
But Ms Robinson said other witnesses had been brushed off by Carnival, which she alleges had initially attempted to keep it quiet. She said after witnesses were ushered into the restaurant they were provided with no more information.
“They should have taken us aside and talked with us, we obviously had a million things going through our head,” she said. “They covered up everything. The dripping noise was the worst part of it.
“When we returned I wrote and called Carnival about how graphic what we saw was and their response was, ‘Is that all?’, and that they would make a note of the feedback — that was all.”
Expressing her condolences for the family of Mr Opazo she said: “It’s terrible what happened. That’s why I originally didn’t reach out to reporters because I didn’t want it to be public.
“That’s why I didn’t take the film myself. I didn’t want to take pictures and film of someone’s death because obviously I wouldn’t want that to happen to me.
“To be honest when you see that much blood and hear it and kind of sense it and smell it, your instinct isn’t to take out a phone and become famous.”
Speaking to Fox 4, Mr Davis said: “I’d describe it as the nightmare after Christmas. To look and see the elevator with blood coming down like a sheet, and not stopping. It was a real-life scene of The Shining.”
Mr Davis and his wife told the news station they could “smell the blood”, and said there appeared to be another man working inside the lift, who “ran through the blood that was coming down” to get out.
“One of the crew people from Carnival was trying to get people to go back towards the restaurant,” Mr Davis said.
Forty-five minutes later, the area was sectioned off with the elevator covered in a white sheet, and a sign reading: “Sorry, but I’m not working at the moment.”
Mr Davis added: “A crew member, somebody was inside, behind that wall when the elevator came down. I don’t know what happened in there but something terrifying happened. I couldn’t wait to get off the ship.”
Ms Robinson said her family, who have been on more than 20 cruises and have a Platinum membership with Carnival, were reconsidering a 10-day cruise booked for May.
“[We] are terrified to take the cruise now that we see how they are handling these types of situations,” she said.
Originally published as Second witness recounts cruise ship horror after death of Jose Sandoval Opazo
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