Tragic Carnival Cruise death - graphic, be warned

[Michelle]

Warning - graphic content in the link
Beware - gruesome
Man I feel for this man's family
And for the people that witnessed what the article describes
Hope this is enough lines of text to make sure there are no triggers.
Trigger warning Trigger Warning!



www.cnn.com/2015/12/31/us/carnival-ecstasy-cruise-ship-elevator-death/


(CNN)A crew member on a Caribbean cruise ship died while working on an elevator, the company said.



Passengers aboard the Carnival Ecstasy witnessed part of the horrifying incident Sunday evening in which blood poured down the front of the elevator.



Matt Davis and his wife were on their way to dinner when they came across the gory scene.



"To look and see the elevator with just blood coming down like a sheet, and not stopping ... it was a real life scene of 'The Shining,'" Davis told CNN affiliate WFTX, referring to the 1980 horror movie.



As the couple looked on aghast at the flowing blood, which they said sounded like a rainstorm, a crew member was trying to usher people back inside the restaurant.



'Something terrifying happened'

Davis and his wife took photos and video of what they saw on their cell phones. In one clip they shared with WFTX, a man can be heard shouting, "No, that can't be right! No, that's not possible!"



The elevator was eventually sealed off, Davis said, with a sign that read, "Sorry, but I'm not working at the moment."



He said crew members told him that an electrician had been working on the elevator.



"A crew member or somebody was inside or behind that wall when the elevator came down, and I don't know what happened, but something terrifying happened," he told WFTX.



A spokesman for Carnival, Vance Gulliksen, told CNN that a crew member died Sunday on the ship while working on an elevator.



'I couldn't wait to get off the ship'

"The company extends its heartfelt sympathy to the family and loved ones of our team member," Gulliksen said Wednesday, adding that it was providing support.



"Appropriate authorities have been notified and a full investigation into the cause of the accident is underway," he said. The ship was on the final leg of a 3-day cruise from Miami when it happened.



Gulliksen didn't provide the name of the deceased employee, but the Miami-Dade Police Department identified him to WFTX as 66-year-old Jose Sandoval Opazo, an electrician on the ship.



Carnival Corporation, which owns the cruise line, has experienced a number high-profile problems on its ships in recent years, including the capsizing of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy in 2012 and a crippling fire on the Carnival Triumph in 2013.



For Davis and his family, what had started as a happily memorable trip on the Carnival Ecstasy became one they wished they could forget.



"I couldn't wait to get off the ship," he said. "I just wanted to get off."



Man falls from one cruise ship, is rescued by another



Artemis Moshtaghian and Kate Conerly contributed to this report.



My own words - if you have thoughts and prayers to spare for this man's family, they surely could use them!

[chedifuen]

How awful!

[zelda25]

I am completely WTFing that the first thing those people did was whip out their phones to take pictures/video. What in the everloving fuck?!

[jigsy]

Dec 31, 2015 11:57:40 GMT -5 zelda25 said:

I am completely WTFing that the first thing those people did was whip out their phones to take pictures/video. What in the everloving fuck?!

That was my exact reaction. Have some fucking tact people, an accident scene isn't a instagram opportunity.

[Velvetshady]

First, this is terrible and I feel terrible for his family, friends, and coworkers and for the passengers that witnessed it.

Dec 31, 2015 11:53:23 GMT -5 Michelle said:

Davis and his wife took photos and video of what they saw on their cell phones.



WTF would someone do this? It saddens me that this seems to be a "normal" response these days.

[sangria]

I read this before I even got out of bed this morning.

Horrifying on about a zillion levels.

I'm not sure what my reaction would be, I probably wouldn't even think it was real blood? I don't even know WTF I would do if I walked up on that. My lord.

[jinkies]

I saw this in the "trending" section on facebook.

Add me to the list who doesn't understand the impulse to record this at all, let alone share with the world so that the victim's family and friends can see it.

The whole thing is just horrible.

[nursewife]

Argh, that poor guys family. It's awful that the story of his death is so graphic and sensational in the news. What a terrible way to be remembered.

[sangria]

For some reason this is reminding me of the poor man who died in the tuna oven.

[sangria]

Dec 31, 2015 12:29:24 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

Dec 31, 2015 12:28:18 GMT -5 sangria said:

For some reason this is reminding me of the poor man who died in the tuna oven.

I thought of the woman in china that fell inside the escalator 

Ugh. I had forgotten about that one. 

Damn, the world can be scary. 

[Michelle]

The only thing I can say in defense of the photos is that as a person who investigates situations (workplace misconduct and occasionally violence), pictures of the immediate scene are helpful for investigators to put the pieces together about what happened.

But sharing them via the media is really disgusting. And yet then again I contributed to CNN thinking we want to see that by cross posting the article here...

[orangeblossom]

That's awful. As with pp, I don't understand whipping out a cell phone.

As an aside, every single time I think I'm going to look into taking a cruise, some horrific news story comes out, and then I say nope, no cruises for me.

[sparrowsong]

Ugh. I don't know why I even read stuff like this. 15 years ago I read a story about a man who was caught in an elevator door, ended up decapitated, and the elevator then moved on with his head inside with the other passengers. I'm still traumatized by that image.

[omgzombies]

I also don't get the reaction of immediately taking pictures. My first reaction is to find a way to help, so that's either a) jumping in and assisting the person, or b) getting the fuck out of the way so the right people can get in and assist. I'm not even above announcing to a crowd that it's time to back up and get out of the way. But none of that can be accomplished if you are taking video with your phone. You standing around with your cell phone in the air, crowding the scene is not doing anyone any good.

[2doxies]

Dec 31, 2015 12:36:41 GMT -5 sparrowsong said:

Ugh. I don't know why I even read stuff like this. 15 years ago I read a story about a man who was caught in an elevator door, ended up decapitated, and the elevator then moved on with his head inside with the other passengers. I'm still traumatized by that image.

OMG!!!!

[Michelle]

Dec 31, 2015 14:14:51 GMT -5 2doxies said:

Dec 31, 2015 12:36:41 GMT -5 sparrowsong said:

Ugh. I don't know why I even read stuff like this. 15 years ago I read a story about a man who was caught in an elevator door, ended up decapitated, and the elevator then moved on with his head inside with the other passengers. I'm still traumatized by that image.

OMG!!!!

That happened here in Houston at St. Joseph's Hospital www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/965442/posts

[debbiedowner]

This thread is really ending things on a high note this year.

[meshaliuknits]

I think I've been conditioned to run screaming in the other direction if blood comes out of an elevator.


That's horrible, though. I can't help but wonder WHY the elevator was in service if someone was working on it. It should have been out of service (locked out/tagged out). AND because it's a confined space he should have had a buddy making sure no idiot tried to run the elevator anyway. But since it was a cruise ship I suppose it's not necessarily under OSHA regs and the regs of the country responsible are more lax.

[sparrowsong]

Dec 31, 2015 14:29:09 GMT -5 Michelle said:

Dec 31, 2015 14:14:51 GMT -5 2doxies said:

OMG!!!!

That happened here in Houston at St. Joseph's Hospital www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/965442/posts

Yes that's it. I was working at a hospital at the time too and took an elevator every day. I thought about it every. single. time. I was an an elevator for years.

[2doxies]

Dec 31, 2015 14:29:09 GMT -5 Michelle said:

Dec 31, 2015 14:14:51 GMT -5 2doxies said:

OMG!!!!

That happened here in Houston at St. Joseph's Hospital www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/965442/posts

The poor woman was in the elevator for 20 minutes by herself with his head?!

What a tragic and awful story.

[sangria]

Dec 31, 2015 14:31:02 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

I think I've been conditioned to run screaming in the other direction if blood comes out of an elevator.


That's horrible, though. I can't help but wonder WHY the elevator was in service if someone was working on it. It should have been out of service (locked out/tagged out). AND because it's a confined space he should have had a buddy making sure no idiot tried to run the elevator anyway. But since it was a cruise ship I suppose it's not necessarily under OSHA regs and the regs of the country responsible are more lax.

See also: tuna oven story. 

[meshaliuknits]

Dec 31, 2015 14:38:56 GMT -5 sangria said:

Dec 31, 2015 14:31:02 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

I think I've been conditioned to run screaming in the other direction if blood comes out of an elevator.


That's horrible, though. I can't help but wonder WHY the elevator was in service if someone was working on it. It should have been out of service (locked out/tagged out). AND because it's a confined space he should have had a buddy making sure no idiot tried to run the elevator anyway. But since it was a cruise ship I suppose it's not necessarily under OSHA regs and the regs of the country responsible are more lax.

See also: tuna oven story. 

I had a very similar rant with the tuna oven story, trust. It's outrageous to me to disregard something so simple that keeps people safe. But there I KNOW OSHA applied.

[erbear]

Dec 31, 2015 11:57:40 GMT -5 zelda25 said:

I am completely WTFing that the first thing those people did was whip out their phones to take pictures/video. What in the everloving fuck?!

Yup. What the fuck is wrong with you people??

What a horrific story

[dragon's breath]

Dec 31, 2015 14:29:09 GMT -5 Michelle said:

Dec 31, 2015 14:14:51 GMT -5 2doxies said:

OMG!!!!

That happened here in Houston at St. Joseph's Hospital www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/965442/posts

The need to spell out doctor in that headline, because the way it's written made me think "name" instead of "event".

[redwino]

This is so sad. That man's poor family

[ajj]

I'm having very negative feelings toward the man who took the video and is now giving interviews all over the news.

That is horrible and I feel awful for the person this happened to and their loved ones.

[boxertdog]

Another thing to add to my list of 684 reasons never to go on a cruise. The list also includes poop water flooding the ship and drunen crashes.

[teflepi]

Dec 31, 2015 11:57:40 GMT -5 zelda25 said:

I am completely WTFing that the first thing those people did was whip out their phones to take pictures/video. What in the everloving fuck?!

This.  Seriously. WTF