Indian Woman, 64, Dies After Jumping From Singapore Cruise

An Indian woman died after reportedly jumping from the Royal Caribbean Cruise when it was sailing through the Singapore Strait. The 64-year-old woman's son had earlier sought help from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Ministry of External Affairs to help find his mother after he claimed that the cruise company is "washing their hands off".

Mr Sahani in an update informed that his mother died and after relentless efforts, the cruise liner shared the surveillance footage and a search is underway for the body. He thanked foreign minister S Jaishankar, the PMO and the Indian Embassy in Singapore for helping him.

The Indian High Commission is in touch with the family and is in close contact with Singaporean authorities to address related issues and are facilitating legal procedures. They have also reached out to the India head of the Royal Caribbean Cruise to extend all ccoperation.

He earlier said the crew informed him that his mother jumped off the ship and claimed that the crew have not shown any surveillance footage and did not even carry out any rescue operation to locate his mother and even off-boarded his father.

The woman, Reetha Sahani, was on board the 'Spectrum of the Seas' cruise ship with her husband, Jakesh Sahani, and reportedly jumped from the vessel when it was en route to Singapore, as per a Strait Times report.

Speaking to Strait Times earlier, Mr Sahani said, "We've asked to see the CCTV (closed-circuit television) footage, but so far, we've not received anything yet for us to confirm that it was her. All we know is that the ship's crew thinks she jumped,"

"Eventually, my father was told to get down from the ship because there was another cruise that was going to take place, but we think she may still be on the ship, stuck somewhere," Mr Sahani told the Strait Times.

Mr Sahani said his mother cannot swim, and his father was interviewed by the cops lasted for hours.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said the "passenger had fallen in the Singapore Strait", and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) is coordinating the search and has issued a navigational safety broadcast to vessels in the Singapore Strait and vessels in the port to look out for the missing person and inform the MRCC in case of any sightings.

The Indian High Commission said it is in constant touch with the Sahani family. We are also in close contact with Singaporean authorities to address related issues and are facilitating legal procedures," the High Commission tweeted. 

The High Commission said it has also reached out to the India head of the Royal Caribbean cruise company. "We remain fully committed to supporting the family in this testing time," it said.