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Search called off for Australia cruise passengers | |
(about 17 hours later) | |
Rescue teams have called off a search for two people who apparently fell from a cruise ship off the south-eastern coast of Australia on Wednesday night. | |
A surveillance camera showed a man and a woman plunging from the mid deck of the Carnival Spirit about 120km (75 miles) off the coastal town of Forster. | |
They were only discovered missing after the vessel docked in Sydney, some 300km further south, on Thursday morning. | |
It is unclear whether the two jumped or fell by accident. | It is unclear whether the two jumped or fell by accident. |
Search teams covered 4,670 sq km of ocean without finding any sign of the pair, police said in a statement. | |
The operation was called off in failing light on Friday. | |
The couple have been named by local media as paramedic Paul Rossington, 30, and Kristen Schroder, 27, from Barraba in New South Wales. | |
Ms Schroder's family issued a statement requesting "privacy and understanding while we come to terms with our beautiful girl's tragic accident". | |
Nearly 2,700 passengers were aboard the ship, which is operated by Carnival Cruise Lines, on a South Pacific cruise at the time. | |
The company said the railing the couple fell over was higher than stipulated by industry safety regulations. | |
Spokesman Peter Taylor said: "Our thoughts are clearly with their families at this difficult time." | |
The vessel's last stop before Sydney was Mare Island in New Caledonia on Monday. | The vessel's last stop before Sydney was Mare Island in New Caledonia on Monday. |
The police have launched an investigation. | |