A 75-year-old American woman has died after a ferry sank while carrying cruise ship passengers to the Blue Lagoon island in the Bahamas. The incident occurred on Tuesday morning as the two-deck vessel departed from Paradise Island in Nassau.
Terrifying footage shows passengers in orange life vests as the ferry leans dangerously, with water reaching the lower windows. Passengers jumped into the sea and swam to a nearby boat, while life rings floated past. The crew were reportedly unhelpful, with some crying and screaming.
American tourist Kelly Schissel, who was on board, said the crew did little to calm passengers. 'One of the crewmembers who was downstairs ran upstairs and was crying, absolutely bawling, and grabbing a life jacket. That's when everybody was like "this is real, something's happening",' she said in a TikTok video.
Schissel also claimed the captain was 'laughing because he was showing off' and trying to 'whip the butt-end around'. Two other passengers were taken to hospital. Local police are investigating the cause of the sinking and the woman's death.
