Personal Injury Solicitors

A child injured in a swimming pool accident on board a US cruise liner is likely to be able to claim compensation for pain and suffering if he survives, according to a Miami personal injury lawyer.

The holiday accident on board a New York-based cruise liner has resulted in the death of one child and the hospitalisation of another, after the children were pulled from one of the liner’s swimming pools.

The pool accident happened on Monday (03/02/14) on board a ship belonging to the Norwegian Cruise Line as it was sailing off the coast of North Carolina.

The two children were flown to Carolina East Medical Center after being pulled from the swimming pool on board the cruise ship.

Efforts to resuscitate a four-year-old boy failed, however, while a six-year-old boy is currently receiving treatment in hospital, after having been given CPR on board the cruise liner before being flown to hospital. The surviving child was moved to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville.

The cruise liner involved in the accident is the Norwegian Breakaway – the ship has a capacity of 4,000 passengers and 18 decks and is usually berthed in Manhattan.

The liner was launched in 2013 and experts called it the best liner Norwegian Cruise Line has ever launched.

It is understood Norwegian Cruise Line ships have dedicated swimming pools for children on board – it is not known whether the two children were related or whether they were being watched by their parents or relatives while they were in the pool.

Lifeguards are not usually in attendance round swimming pools on cruise liners and swimming is at the passenger’s own risk.

On board the Norwegian Breakaway, there is an aqua park and an entertainment programme for children and young adults from the age of three to 17 years – although it is not yet known whether the children were swimming as part of a supervised programme.

The parents of the six-year-old who survived have requested that no details of the child’s condition are released to the public.

It is believed the cruise liner was heading to Florida and then sailing on to the Bahamas, but has now docked in Port Canaveral. The Coast Guard must be informed of deaths at sea under US law.

Most holiday swimming pool accidents and drowning accidents on holidays occur in the first 24 hours of the holiday, when holidaymakers are tired from the journey – or parents are relaxing after the stress of travelling and children are over-excited at arriving at their holiday destination and may wander off unnoticed by their parents.

Under UK law, cruise liner passengers who book package holidays on board cruise ships are protected under the Package Travel Regulations 1992 if they suffer holiday accidents and injury as a result of another party’s negligence.

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors

Compensation claims for Accidents and Injury on Holiday fall under area of law known as personal injury.

Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors can advise holidaymakers who book package holidays on how to make a no win no fee claim under the Package Travel Regulations 1992 if the accident or injury was caused by the negligence of someone else.

Claims for holiday accidents and injuries include slips, trips and falls on board cruise liners or on slippery hotel floors, as well as holiday food poisoning as a result of lapses in hygiene and food preparation at holiday hotels.

For expert legal advice on making a no win no fee holiday accident and illness claim, contract Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 020 7923 4020.