November 8, 2015
Did Anti-gay Remarks Lead Man to Fall Off Cruise Ship?
READ TIME: 3 MIN.
How Bernardo Albaz came to fall off a Royal Caribbean cruise ship early Friday morning? Did the out gay Brazilian jump or did he fall off in an altercation with the ship's crew prompted by homophobic comments?
"It was not a suicide,"
"Winkleman says it was anti-gay comments from crewmembers that led to the horrifying moment that left Albaz dangling on the edge of the ship. Albaz and his husband Eric were married a year ago in New York State." the WPTV report continues.
"'Bernardo ended up getting in a huge altercation and ended up in his cabin where he is furious and ultimately Royal Caribbean security came to the scene,' said Winkleman as he continued his account of the events. 'As a result of the altercation in his cabin Bernardo falls off his balcony onto the life boat area.'"
A YouTube video that shows Albaz holding onto a lifeboat support bracket before falling into the sea. According to the Daily Mail, Albaz shouts: "Because of you, this happened ... Let go of me! Get off of me!" He subsequently fell into the sea.
"According to Winkleman, Albaz's husband Eric could be heard screaming at the security guards in the clip, which has since been removed from YouTube," writes the Daily Mail.
Winkleman also told reporters that the family wants Albaz found, according to WPTV.
"They [the U.S. Coast Guard] did find a body matching the description of Bernardo that was spotted by an airplane but they were not able to recover the body."
Royal Caribbean issued a statement on the matter:
"Our onboard security team responded to the guest's stateroom after a neighboring guest complained about a domestic dispute on the guest's balcony. Our staff did not have a physical altercation with the guest and were unable to prevent his jumping from the stateroom balcony.
"Royal Caribbean is deeply saddened by this event. We will continue to provide assistance to the family as well as law enforcement."
