Woman Falls From Cruise Ship's 10th Deck

A woman fell from the 10th deck of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship Sunday, but fortunately, the story has an almost shockingly happy ending. Not only was the 42-year-old US citizen rescued from the water, but a Coast Guard statement regarding the incident says she was "in good health" and that "no medical evaluation ... was requested by the cruise ship." The Mariner of the Seas was near the Dominican Republic, about 27 nautical miles south of Punta Cana, when the woman went overboard, NBC News reports. "The passenger was being kept on the cruise ship's medical facility and later transferred to the Hospital in Willemstad, Curacao for evaluation," the statement continues.

In its own statement, Royal Caribbean says that its "Care team is now offering assistance and support to [the passenger] and their traveling party." It's not clear how the woman went overboard, and the cruise line said it would not share further details. The Coast Guard is investigating the incident. Witnesses tell Insider that after cruise crew members launched a rescue boat to search for the woman, it took about 45 minutes before she was safely back on board the ship. Relieved passengers who had been watching from their balconies applauded, one witness tells Fox 35. In the 212 cruise ship overboard incidents between 2009 and 2019, just 28.2% of victims were rescued. (More Royal Caribbean stories.)