The parents of the toddler who plunged to her death on a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico a few weeks ago have spoken out for the first time, asserting that the girl’s death was the fault of the ship’s operator.
Chloe Wiegand, 1, fell out of an open window on July 6 and plummeted 11 stories to her death.
“We obviously blame them for not having a safer situation on the 11th floor of that cruise ship. There are a million things that could’ve been done to make that safer. I know my mom was asking people, ‘Why on earth is there a window open on the 11th floor without a screen or anything?'” Chloe’s mother, Kimberly Wiegand, told the “Today” show in an interview published on July 22.
“And their response to that was, ‘We need ventilation.’ Well, to that I would say, ‘Get a fan. Come up with some other mechanism to make your guests comfortable, rather than creating a tremendous safety hazard that cost our child her life.'”
Watch Kimberly and Alan Wiegand’s exclusive full interview with @savannahguthrie about the tragic death of their daughter, Chloe, who fell from a docked Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
“She just exuded love.” pic.twitter.com/tB9SLkk3ar
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 22, 2019
Chloe’s family plans to file a lawsuit against Royal Caribbean for the company’s alleged negligence.
“I think that they have to be,” Kimberly Wiegand said. “This cannot happen to another family.”
“We’ll never forget her,” her husband, South Bend police officer Alan Weigand, added. “She’s part of our soul that’s not there anymore.”
Michael Winkleman, the family’s lawyer, previously alleged that negligence led to her death.
“Essentially her grandfather lifts her up and puts her on a railing and where he thinks that there is glass there because it’s clear, but it turns out there was no glass there,” Winkleman told NBC. “She goes to bang on the glass like she would have at one of those hockey rinks, and the next thing you know, she’s gone.”
“Why in the world would you leave a window open in an entire glass wall full of windows in a kid’s area?” the attorney added.
Royal Caribbean said in a statement sent to news outlets: “We’ve made our Care Team available to assist the family with any resources they need. Out of respect for their privacy, we do not plan to comment further on the incident.”
Puerto Rico’s Public Security Secretary Elmer Román told the Associated Press that the probe into the death includes eyeing the possibility of possible negligence by Royal Caribbean.
Toddler falls to her death after being ‘dangled out of window’ by her grandfather from 11th deck of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship https://t.co/QnWnOtT6X4 pic.twitter.com/P2343S1h4O
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) July 8, 2019
“That is part of the investigation. Once the result is determined, we will report,” Román said, adding that exploring numerous possibilities is “part of the process” in such investigations.
According to police in Puerto Rico, Chloe’s grandfather was holding her when she slipped from his hands and fell out of the window. The family said he left her perched on a windowsill, thinking the glass was in place, when she fell out.
Román said he didn’t know if the child’s parents had been interviewed as part of the investigation, but said they were free to leave Puerto Rico. He said prosecutors have interviewed the grandparents.
Chloe’s parents told “Today” that the girl’s grandfather would take her to hockey games and let her bang on the glass.
“He was extremely hysterical,” Kimberly Weigand said. “The thing that he has repeatedly told us is, ‘I believed that there was glass.’ He will cry over and over and over. At no point ever, ever has Sam ever put our kids in danger.
