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Cruise line says grandfather in Royal Caribbean death knew window was open before girl’s fatal fall

Cruise line: Grandfather knew window was open before girl’s fatal fall in Puerto Rico

MIAMI (WISH) — A cruise line is seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit following the July 2019 death of an 18-month-old Indiana girl.

Chloe Wiegand, of South Bend, fell to her death from an 11th-story window of a cruise ship on July 7, 2019 when her family was returning from a trip to Puerto Rico. The girl’s step-grandfather, Salvatore Anello, was charged in Puerto Rico in October with negligent homicide in the girl’s death.

According to a report from The Associated Press, Salvatore said he did not know the window was open, adding that he believed the window was closed and he lifted Chloe up so she could “bang on the glass like at a hockey game.”

Chloe’s parents sued Royal Caribbean Cruises in December, accusing the company of negligence. The lawsuit claims the company violated standards and did not provide safe windows where children play on the ship.

Court documents filed by the company in January requested the case be dismissed, indicating that it “is not a case of an unknowing child approaching an open window and falling out because the window was defective or improperly positioned.”

The company says video surveillance proves Salvatore “walked up to a window he was aware was open, leaned his upper body out the window for several seconds, reached down and picked up Chloe and then held her by and out of the open window for thirty four seconds before he lost his grip and dropped Chloe out of the window.”

Included in the court documents were still photos from surveillance video of the events leading to the fall. The company said the images were captured from two closed-circuit television cameras on board.

The company says the first image shows Anello following Chloe toward the open window.

The second image, the company says Anello is seen leaning his upper-torso out of the window for about eight seconds.

According to Royal Caribbean Cruises, the following images show Anello pick up his granddaughter, lift her over the railing toward the open window and hold her there for several moments before she falls.

In the court documents, the company says the video contradicts the idea that there was a “hidden danger.”