Two Overboard in Separate Carnival Incidents

One cruiser died and one was rescued after both jumped off separate Carnival cruise ships within hours of each other over the weekend. An 18 year old jumped overboard Sunday morning from the Carnival Ecstasy, which on June 30 had left from Galveston on its way to Cozumel. It was later found that the teen was David Ritcheson, who nearly died in April 2006, when he was beaten at a party in Houston, the victim of an apparent hate crime. He later testified before Congress. Ritcheson, who was Mexican-American, was recovered by the ship's crew and was pronounced dead at approximately 9:10 a.m. Meanwhile, only hours later, a 29-year-old Maryland man jumped from Carnival Liberty, which was en route to Freeport on a six-day cruise that left Sunday from Fort Lauderdale. Around 11:35 p.m. Sunday night, an inebriated Scott Durrin and three friends got into one of the ship's lifeboats, The Associated Press reported, as Durrin tried cutting the ropes of the boat. When a security officer tried to get him out, Durrin leapt into the water, about a 36-foot fall. The Coast Guard rescued Durrin about an hour later and Liberty continued on its scheduled voyage.