A Brownsburg, Indiana, father of two died after he fell four stories from a balcony to a lower deck as a Carnival cruise ship was returning to Miami last week.
Brian Rice died Friday Nov. 15th as the Carnival Horizon was in waters outside of Miami, according to officials in Florida and a family representative. A fundraising campaign has been set up to support his family, reports The Indianapolis Star, which is part of the USA TODAY Network.
The cause of Rice’s death was blunt force trauma injury, Darren J. Caprara, director of operations at the medical examiner’s office, told USA TODAY. Rice’s death was not being considered a suicide.
According to CruiseMapper.com, the Horizon was wrapping up a six-day Western Caribbean cruise when the “passenger died after falling from his cabin’s balcony on Deck 9 (Vista) down to Deck 5 (Promenade).”
Miami-Dade police boarded and began investigating after the ship arrived in PortMiami on Saturday.
Contacted through a family spokesperson, Diane Rice, Brian’s wife, declined to be interviewed Wednesday.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to support Diane and the couple’s 3-year-old twin sons, Brian Jr. and Bradley.
“Anyone who knew Brian knows how easy it was to call him a friend,” the GoFundMe campaign said. “He was the most generous person we knew.”
Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen told USA TODAY the cruise line is cooperating with the standard law enforcement investigation. Gulliksen said the line is providing support and that “our thoughts and prayers are with the guest’s family.”
The 3,954-passenger Carnival Horizon debuted in 2018. The 15-deck tall vessel is tied as the biggest in Carnival’s fleet.
The accident follows the death of Chloe Wiegand, an 18-month-old Indiana girl who fell to her death from the 11th floor of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in July. Her grandfather, Salvatore Anello, has been charged with negligent homicide by Puerto Rican authorities, who say he dropped her from the window.
Source: USA Today
