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A search is underway for a 26-year-old man who went overboard into the Gulf of Mexico during a trip on a Carnival cruise ship.
The U.S. Coast Guard said it is looking for the passenger, who was reported overboard from the Carnival Dream at around 8.45 p.m. on Thursday evening.
Search and rescue personnel are scouring an area 47 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas, by boat and helicopter, the USCG said.
The ship had departed from Galveston earlier on Thursday for a four-day cruise to Cozumel, a Mexican island in the Caribbean Sea, ABC13 reported.
The man, who has not been identified, appeared to have jumped into the water from his stateroom balcony, Carnival said.
In a statement, Carnival Cruise Line said it had reviewed camera footage of the incident.
"A guest went overboard from Carnival Dream, while the ship was sailing from Galveston," the statement said reported. "Based on camera footage, it appears the guest jumped from his stateroom balcony."
The company said staff promptly followed search-and-rescue prosecutes and notified the USCG. The ship's onboard care team are assisting the man's family, the statement added. Newsweek has contacted Carnival Cruise Line for further comment.
Darrell Byer, a passenger on the Carnival Dream cruise, shot footage of the Coast Guard searching for the man.
"We got a pretty sad situation out here right now, man. A man overboard. We turned the ship around, and we're in a search pattern right now," he said.
Byer added that search-and-rescue officials were calling the man's name "for quite a while." He said he didn't know the man who went overboard.
The USCG said an MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter and an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft have been deployed in the search.
Crews from Coast Guard Air Station Houston and Coast Guard Air Station Houston are involved in the search, as well as the Carnival Dream and a Good Samaritan vessel.
The Carnival Dream carries more than 3,600 passengers on cruises to the Caribbean from Galveston, according to its website.
Earlier this month, a 23-year-old man had to be rescued from a different Carnival cruise ship off the coast of Louisiana after he fell 15 feet onto the deck.
The man was medevaced from the Carnival Valor in the Gulf of Mexico and taken to a hospital in New Orleans in a critical condition on October 8.
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on education and national news. Khaleda ... Read more