Mom who fell off Royal Caribbean cruise ship confirmed dead by her family
Topics: World News, Royal Caribbean
Katherine Sidnell
Featured Image Credit: Jakesh Sahani/Facebook James D. Morgan/Getty Images
Topics: World News, Royal Caribbean
A mom who fell from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship has been confirmed dead.
Reeta Sahani, 64, had been traveling with her husband, Jakesh Sahani, 70, from Malaysia to Singapore when she went missing on Monday (31 July).
Tragically, Reeta's family confirmed the news on Tuesday (1 August) which would have been her birthday.
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It's unclear what caused Reeta to fall from the Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
According to the Straits Times, her husband, Jakesh, grew concerned after the woman vanished from their cabin onboard the Spectrum of the Seas in the middle of the night.
The ship's overboard detection system recorded something going overboard and and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre was notified about 7:50 am local time. A search was then launched by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
At the time, the organisation gave a statement which read: “MRCC Singapore is coordinating the search and immediately issued navigational safety broadcast to vessels in the Singapore Strait and vessels in port to keep a lookout for the missing person and report any sightings to MRCC Singapore.”
Sadly though, Reeta's family confirmed that she had tragically died less than 24 hours later.
It was after the family was shown surveillance footage, which confirmed that Sahani had fallen from the ship.
Shortly after this, her son Apoorv Sahani shared a tragic update on Twitter.
The 39-year-old wrote: “The cruise liner finally did share the footage with us and a search is also underway. With the footage we have unfortunately learnt that my mother has passed away.”
He added: "Would request you guys to give us some privacy as we mourn her loss. Ironically, today is also her birthday."
Apoorv did not reveal what footage had been shown, but he had tweeted earlier that 'cruise staff are saying she jumped'.
In an interview with the Straits Times, Apoorv spoke about the family's concern for his mother as she could not swim and their desperate search for her.
“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,” he told the publication, adding: "She was on a holiday enjoying herself and then this whole thing happened. It doesn’t make sense."
Before Apoorv announced the death, Royal Caribbean gave a statement to The Post, detailing the search.
It read: “The ship and crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities and launched a search and rescue operation.
"The shipboard team is working with local authorities, and our Care team is now offering assistance and support to the family."