The search continues today in Mediterranean waters for "girl in pink pyjamas," who is reported to have fallen overboard in the early hours of Saturday morning while sailing aboard the Norwegian Epic luxury cruise liner with her family.
While the ship was sailing and due to dock in Palma, Majorca early yesterday, passengers were told that they would not be making their next stop, and everyone was called upon to aid in the search.
A spokesman for Norwegian Cruise Lines confirmed to U.K.-based website, the Sun Online: "On the early morning of June 8, a report was made that an adult female guest went overboard while the ship was sailing from Cannes, France to Palma de Mallorca, Spain...The authorities were immediately notified and a search and rescue operation ensued." He went on, "Sadly, the guest has not yet been found. Our thoughts and prayers are with the individual's family during this difficult time."
Miguel Chicon, head of Maritime Search and Rescue in Palma de Mallorca, told NBC News that-after checking CCTV cameras onboard the ship-the crew determined the passenger disappeared from a balcony at around 5 a.m. on Saturday and at a location about 40 miles northwest of Menorca.
The ship was turned around at about 8.30 a.m. after the girl's family reported her missing. It took another two hours for the Epic to backtrack to the area where she would have fallen into the water.
A public tweet went out from passenger Rebekah Sanderlin, "I'm on the Norwegian Epic cruiseship in the Mediterranean & we've spent all day looking for a passenger who fell overboard last night. People are saying it was an American teenaged girl."
It was later clarified that the missing young woman was a 15-year-old Korean girl, who was sailing on the week-long cruise with her family. Sanderlin told the Sun Online, "Thousands of passengers stood at the rails looking for hours. We stayed in that location, not moving, all day."
Another passenger, Dr. Kyjuan Brown, said upon calling off the search for the night, passengers were informed by the ship's captain that the young woman's family had disclosed she could not swim at all. "Given the conditions," Brown said, "it's unlikely she would have survived."
The Epic continued to circle for the remainder of the day, accompanied by a helicopter, a military plane and a rescue ship that had been also dispatched to comb the area in search of the missing girl. Chicon confirmed to NBC News that the search had to be stopped after dark, and the Epic headed to Barcelona, Spain to dock for the night.
Spain's Maritime Rescue Service has confirmed that the search had resumed this morning, both by sea and by air, spanning over 40 miles of Mediterranean coastline. The young woman's name has not yet been released and no further details have emerged as to her whereabouts.
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