Cruise Ship Passengers Air Lifted To Miami After Bus Crash In Dominica
Shaneeva Yassin, NBC6.net News Editor
MIAMI -- An air ambulance arrived in Miami Tuesday carrying several passengers who were injured in a tour bus crash in the Caribbean island of Dominica.
The injured people, all Americans, were passengers on Celebrity Cruises' "Celebrity Summit", which offered a shore excursion to the island. It was a seven-night cruise out of Puerto Rico. Dominican is an island just east of Puerto Rico.
Sixteen people were injured, including some seriously, when there bus lost control Monday on its way back to the cruise. The driver hit a ditch and the bus slammed into a wall.
All 16 onboard the bus were immediately transported to the local Princess Margaret Hospital for care. The passengers sustained injuries, including broken bones, bumps, bruises and lacerations, however, three guests were more seriously injured. Five of the 16 guests were treated and released from the hospital Monday.
Additional personnel, including specially trained members of Celebrity Cruises' guest care team and an additional nurse arrived in Dominica Tuesday to escort the injured passengers and their traveling companions during flights to South Florida.
Eight passengers were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital for further assessment and care and are in critical condition, five are in serious condition and one is in fair condition, NBC 6's Steve Litz reported.
"We do have the physicians that will actually be hands-on with the care of the patient that immediately get called and they've been in total communication since last night," doctor Enida Roldan of JMH said.
Celebrity Cruises' President Dan Hanrahan issued a statement:
"Our thoughts and prayers are with our injured guests and their families. We'll continue to do our very best to assist them in the aftermath of this unfortunate accident."
The passengers had participated in a "Caribbean Cooking Adventure" shore excursion, in which they joined local culinary experts to learn how to prepare and present traditional Caribbean dishes. The three-and-a-half hour excursion concludes with a scenic drive through Roseau before returning to the pier.
The report out of Dominica is that the bus driver was experiencing problems with the bus' brakes, Litz reported.
