Woman falls to her death on luxury cruise ship sailing the Atlantic

A woman has died after falling from a cruise ship in the Channel Islands, according to reports.The victim perished as the ship sailed to England from Portugal, officials said.The French Coast Guard received a distress signal from the MSC Virtuosa, an 18-deck ship, saying a woman in her 20s had gone overboard north of Les Casquets rocks, west of Alderney, shortly after midnight Saturday, according to The Guardian.A French Navy H160 helicopter based in Maupertus, Normandy, was scrambled for the rescue mission, the outlet reported.“Channel Islands air search were called out early this morning and requested to assist Jobourg MRCC in the search for a person overboard from the MSC Virtuosa cruise ship, north of Les Casquets,” the voluntary Channel Islands Air Search group said in a post on Facebook.“Lions’ Pride departed from Guernsey at 0200hrs and set course for the search area.”The group stood down after the doomed woman was lifted from the water at about 3 a.m.

local time, the media outlet reported.The Navy helicopter transported the woman to a rescue center in Tourlaville, where she was pronounced dead. Those on board were asked to pray for their fellow passenger, a cruise passenger, who only identified himself as “Neil,” told the BBC.“I went up along with lots of other passengers to have a look,” he said.“About half an hour later the cruise director told us they were looking for a missing passenger so we would be delayed into Southampton,” the shaken passenger said.“We are deeply saddened by this tragic event, and our thoughts are with the family during this difficult time,” the ship’s owner, MSC Cruises, told The Guardian in a statement.

“Out of respect for their privacy, we will not be providing further details.”...