Five people injured when a Carnival Cruise tour excursion bus was involved in a rollover accident Monday had to be airlifted by military aircraft for treatment, authorities said.
Four patients with injuries that were “too severe to be treated in the Bahamas” were transported on a US military C-130 to Broward Health in Fort Lauderdale, the Broward County Sheriff Fire Rescue & Emergency Services department said in a statement.
Three were seriously injured, with arm and leg fractures, internal injuries and possible paralysis, the Broward rescue unit said. The condition of the fourth patient was minor. The patients were conscious and talking to paramedics.
A spokesman with the US Coast Guard told CNN that one of its helicopters, a Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk, transported the fifth injured person to Nassau’s Doctors Hospital in Nassau, the Bahamian capital.
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The cause of the accident is under investigation
The excursion bus had 32 guests and was part of a Carnival Ecstasy five-day cruise that departed Jacksonville on June 22, the cruise line said. One local news report said there was also a driver and two staffers on the bus.
The accident took place near Rock Sound on the island of Eleuthera, about 20 minutes north of Princess Cays, Carnival said.
“All guests were seen at the local medical clinic and 28 have been cleared to return to the ship,” the cruise line said.
“Carnival’s CareTeam is providing support to the guests. The cause of the accident is being investigated. In the meantime, the Cathedral Cove, Ocean Hole, and Rock Sound Island Tour has been suspended,” Carnival said.
The Bahamas Hospitals Authority said it activated its mass casualty incident protocol and put out an “urgent call for blood donations.”
“Donations may be made at the Princess Margaret Blood Bank and Doctors Hopsital Blood Bank,” the authority said in a press release.
