One woman was killed, and ten others were injured after a shuttle bus transporting passengers from the Carnival Miracle cruise ship slammed into a Honolulu cruise terminal in Hawaii.
The 68-year-old woman succumbed to her injuries, while her husband, who was also injured, is expected to recover, according to Matt Lupoli, senior manager of Carnival Cruise Line.
The shuttle bus driver, a 57-year-old male, had just dropped off a group of customers at Honolulu’s Pier 2 terminal on Friday morning and exited his vehicle.
He mistakenly pressed the gas pedal instead of the brakes and collided with two concrete barriers before plowing into eleven pedestrians, Honolulu police said in a statement.
The Friday crash follows a series of harrowing incidents involving cruise ships lately, including the death of a 20-year-old Florida man who jumped from a Royal Caribbean Cruise ship and the mysterious disappearance of a South Carolina man last week.
One woman was killed, and ten others were injured after a shuttle bus transporting passengers from the Carnival Miracle cruise ship(pictured in January, 2024) slammed into a Honolulu cruise terminal in Hawaii
‘It just kept going, and my daughter yells out ‘There’s nobody there driving the bus.’ Then it hits the wall. I was…shook up, pretty shaken,’ said Linda Reck, who was visiting from Florida
The shuttle bus driver, a 57-year-old male, had just dropped off a group of customers at Honolulu’s Pier 2 terminal on Friday morning and exited his vehicle. He mistakenly pressed the gas pedal instead of the brakes. Pictured: passengers and law enforcement authorities on scene
The Carnival Miracle embarked on a 15-day excursion, departing from Los Angeles, California, on April 6 and scheduled to complete its round trip on April 21, according to records on Cruise Mapper.
On Friday morning, the driver had just dropped off his passengers at pier 2 when a bystander told him that the vehicle was moving forward, Honolulu police said.
The 57-year-old driver jumped in the driver’s seat and attempted to stop the vehicle. But he mistakenly pressed the gas pedal instead of the brakes.
The bus slammed into two concrete barriers and eleven pedestrians, authorities said. Nine of the people hit by the vehicle were cruise ship passengers.
The 68-year-old woman, who has not been identified was taken to a hospital in critical condition, and later died. She was traveling with her husband.
Four others, including two men and two women, all in their 50s and 60s, sustained serious injuries, Hawaii News Now reported.
Another visitor, who said she works in an emergency room, told the outlet: ‘It definitely puts a damper on my vacation. I deal with this everyday… but this is just different’
The bus slammed into two concrete barriers and eleven pedestrians, authorities said. Nine of the people hit by the vehicle were cruise ship passengers
‘It just kept going, and my daughter yells out ‘There’s nobody there driving the bus.’ Then it hits the wall. I was…shook up, pretty shaken,’ Linda Reck, who was visiting from Florida, told NBC News.
Another visitor, who said she works in an emergency room, told the outlet: ‘It definitely puts a damper on my vacation. I deal with this everyday… but this is just different.’
Five pedestrians were transported from the scene to hospitals for treatment, and six pedestrians refused treatment on scene, Honolulu police said.
Authorities said speed does not appear to be a contributing factor in the collision, and it is unknown if drugs or alcohol were contributing factors.
‘Members of the Carnival Care Team are assisting the guests. Our thoughts are with the guests affected and their loved ones,’ Lupoli said.
The harrowing crash happened less than two weeks after Levion Parker, 20, jumped to death from a Caribbean cruise ship while intoxicated.
The boat had docked in the Dominican Republic the previous day and was 57 miles off the coast of the Bahamas Grand Inagua when the alarm was raised.
Levion had been with his brother Seth and chatting to other guests in a hot tub on the 11th deck until 3.30am on the final night of the four-day cruise
A week later, Edmond Bradley Solomon III, who suffers from the degenerative disorder, was reported missing when a Royal Caribbean cruise made a stop at Cozumel, Mexico
Passenger Deborah Morrison said the crew were ‘alerted immediately’ by the ‘yelling’ which erupted, and the man’s family appeared ‘beside themselves’.
The 1,100 foot ship was brought to a halt after Levion jumped nearly 200 feet from the 11th deck of the 15-deck ship while it was 57 miles off Grand Inagua at 4am on April 4.
But most of the 4,000 passengers on board only became aware of the tragedy when the captain broke the news the following morning.
A week later, Edmond Bradley Solomon III, who suffers from the degenerative disorder, was reported missing when a Royal Caribbean cruise made a stop at Cozumel, Mexico.
Solomon and his wife went to the terminal’s restroom after the ship, the Icon of the Seas, was docked, but since then, Solomon has not been seen or heard from by his family.
The only reported sighting of him came from a cab driver who said he was hailed by the missing American on the Isla de la Pasión road.
A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help with the search after the family contacted the Mexico City’s U.S. Embassy and the consulate.