Death of passenger likely natural, Carnival Cruise Line says

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Carnival Cruise Line has an update on the investigation of the death of a passenger aboard a ship that ports in Charleston.

The cruise line says all indications pertaining to the woman’s death on Carnival Sunshine suggest that it was due to natural causes, spokesperson with Carnival Cruise Line Matt Lupoli said.

Carnival Cruise Line provided a statement Tuesday:

“While we continue to cooperate with authorities, all indications pertaining to the death of a guest on board Carnival Sunshine suggest that it was a natural death due to a medical condition. We will defer to the FBI on any specific details which may possibly be released at a later date as we fully respect the investigative process, but our initial emergency medical response was appropriate and it appears that this was indeed a medical situation that sadly resulted in the death of a guest.”

The cruise line did not say where that information came from.

MORE: Passenger shares experience on cruise ship with suspicious death

Crew members of Carnival Cruise Sunshine were made aware of an unresponsive woman during the cruise that left the Charleston port on Feb. 27, FBI spokesperson Kevin Wheeler said. Wheeler said staff attempted life-saving measures, but the woman was pronounced dead on the ship.

Once the ship ported in Charleston on Saturday, members of the FBI Evidence Response Team responded to process the passenger’s room, Wheeler said.

The Charleston County Coroner’s Office has not identified the victim or the manner of death.

The FBI Columbia field office has not released any further information.

Bahamian authorities have not provided further details.

This story will be updated when more information becomes available.

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