A woman fell overboard from deck 10 of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship on Sunday and survived a dramatic hour-long rescue before terrified passengers.
The anonymous 42-year-old passenger of the Mariner of the Seas plunged into the water about 27 nautical miles south of Punta Cana about 17:44 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.
The crew of the cruise ship launched a small rescue boat and were able to locate her in the ocean and bring her on board safely, according to the statement.
From the crossing they threw flares to locate the woman in the water.
The woman, a resident of the United States, was unharmed and did not need medical attention, although she was later taken to the hospital for evaluation.
"The ship and crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities and began searching for the guest," Royal Caribbean said in a statement to Fox35. "Fortunately, the guest was successfully recovered and taken on board."
The 42-year-old woman was rescued safely.
Many passengers aboard the cruise ship said they had expected the worst as they watched the scene unfold from their balconies, Fox35 reported.
"When we saw the life rafts, the life preservers and the smoke, I thought: someone just died," Matthew Kuhn told the outlet.
Passenger Matt Kuhn was vacationing on the ship with his family when he saw the commotion and heard the captain announce they had "reports of a person falling overboard."
"I think it was amazing to see that everyone was on their balcony," he said. "Everyone was trying to help, and the crew was very responsive to everyone."
When the rescue team pulled the woman out of the water, passengers on the main boat began applauding, according to the outlet.
The woman was rescued and treated by doctors. He had no injuries.
"Going from 'They probably won't find her,' and ... it's a corpse recovery, to 'Shit, they found her and she's alive! Kuhn explained the passenger to the press.
Statistically, Kuhn was not wrong to believe his first thoughts.
Only 28% of cruise passengers who fall overboard are rescued safely, according to a report by the Cruise Lines International Association that tracked operational incidents from 2009 to 2019.
"When they found her, people were relieved," Kuhn said. "There was a feeling of, 'Okay, great. No one has died on our cruise ship.'"
The ship continued its journey after the rescue and is scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on July 1.