8-year-old dies after falling off cruise ship balcony

MIAMI (WSVN) - An 8-year-old girl is dead after falling off a Carnival cruise ship.

Police in Miami say the girl somehow fell several stories from a balcony inside the ship's atrium and landed on the lower deck around 8 a.m. Saturday.

Officials say the girl was rushed to the hospital, where she later died.

"We were there right on the fifth floor. Everybody was standing up because they were playing music down at the bottom. And next thing you heard, 'Oh my baby, oh my baby,'" a person on the cruise ship told reporters. "When you look she was down at the bottom. I mean it was such a tragic thing and it happened so fast."

A retired EMT was nearby attempted CPR.

"All I saw was a little girl laying on the ground and I started doing CPR until the doctor showed up and then the doctor took over," the retiree said. "I am a retired EMT. So it was natural. But it's still hard when it's a child, that's why I retired… She had severe injuries. That's all I want to say."

Police say the ship was arriving at Port Miami at the time of the incident. They are trying to determine what happened.

Carnival Cruise Line releases a statement which read in part,

"The ship's medical team responded immediately and the child was transported to the ship's medical center. She was subsequently transferred via ambulance to a local hospital. The ship's command immediately contacted Miami-Dade Police Department which is on site. Our most heartfelt care and concern is with the family at this very difficult time."