Current Events –
Cruise Ship Passenger Goes Overboard
UPDATE 11/12/12: The lawyer representing the family of Bernardo Elbaz, has seemingly admitted that Elbaz did in fact throw himself off the balcony of his stateroom aboard Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas.
New details have begun to emerge about the man who went overboard late last week from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship — with the entire incident caught on tape.
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At some point during the early morning hours of November 6th, 35-year-old Bernardo Elbaz of Brazil ended up going over the balcony of his stateroom aboard Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas. A crowd of passengers gathered quickly, while another passenger used their cellphone camera to capture Elbaz hanging for his life off the side of the ocean liner. On the videotape, a commotion can be heard between the crew and a male passenger. Then, out of nowhere, Elbaz lost his balance and slipped into the sea amid gasps and screams from those standing by.
So, what happened to Bernardo Elbaz? Suicide attempt or foul play?
New reports have shed new light on the unfortunate cruise ship death. Elbaz was openly gay and was a passenger on the cruise ship with his husband, Eric, as the couple celebrated Elbaz’s birthday only a few days earlier.
The cruise ship line is claiming Elbaz committed suicide, saying crew members spotted Elbaz “intentionally going over the side of the ship.” In a statement, Royal Caribbean said “Our security team responded to the guest’s stateroom after a neighboring guest complained about a domestic dispute… Our staff were unable to prevent his jumping from the stateroom balcony.”
However, Elbaz family attorney Michael Winkleman, has insisted that is just not true and gave a different account.
On Thursday, following a late dinner, Eric Elbaz went to the couple’s cabin while Bernardo stayed at the bar. The couple had reportedly been subjected to numerous gay slurs by several members of the crew for much of the evening. “There was some altercation, a fight, more anti-gay remarks,” said Winkleman.
When Bernardo returned to the couple’s room after midnight, he was “definitely inebriated, crying, swearing at crew members who may have followed him,” Winkleman said. “He was so angry he threw a lamp, a chair.”
After a second visit to the room by security staff, “there is another long altercation, with maybe as many as 5 or 6 crew members,” Winkleman said.
The door to the balcony was open, Winkleman said, “and [Bernardo] falls over into the life boat.” He somehow ended up clinging to the davit that held the lifeboat.
“There were a number of Royal Caribbean security guards that were actually in the room when this all went down and they were right there on the scene as Bernardo was hanging on for dear life over the side of the ship,” Winkleman said in a television interview.
“This was not a domestic dispute,” Winkleman continued. “This was an altercation directly implicating Royal Caribbean security that was all based on repeated anti-gay remarks that were made to this couple.”
Now, the Elbaz family is filing a lawsuit against the cruise ship line — and they may very well have a good case.
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In the video, Elbaz’s distraught husband can be heard arguing with security staff, saying: “Because of you this happened. Until he’s on board I’m not going anywhere.”
Also, if Elbaz was truly trying to commit suicide, he could have simply jumped into the ocean and been done with it. Instead, he was filmed clinging to the side of the cruise ship as if was trying to save his life, not take it.
The nightmare unfolded on the Oasis of the Seas — one of the biggest ships afloat — which left port in Florida and was 70 miles east of the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos when Elbaz plummeted into the ocean.
A Coast Guard search and rescue mission for Elbaz commenced almost immediately, but was called off later Saturday. He was never found.
This is real sad. I saw the video that showed him actually falling into the water the other day. I can't imagine how his family and his partner feel. There's a lot to this story that doesn't make sense. But I hope they get to the bottom of what really happened. I'm pretty sure the company is getting sued and the family should win.