NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n\n\n- The 5-year-old girl who fell overboard on a Disney Cruise ship was not placed on a balcony railing by her dad, authorities tell PEOPLE<\/li>\n
- The Broward County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the circumstances leading up to the fall<\/li>\n
- Both the father and daughter were rescued and safely returned to the ship on June 29<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The\u00a0father who saved his 5-year-old daughter after she fell overboard on a Disney Cruise<\/a>\u00a0did not place his child on the railing, as online rumors previously speculated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nOn Sunday, June 29, the\u00a0Disney Dream<\/em>\u00a0cruise ship was returning to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. from a four-night cruise in the Bahamas when the little girl fell overboard from the ship\u2019s fourth deck. Her father jumped in after her and both were subsequently pulled from the water and returned to the boat by a Disney rescue team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe Broward Sheriff’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE on Wednesday that the little girl was not being held by her father on the railing at the time of the fall. They acknowledged to\u00a0CBS News<\/a>\u00a0that the information was “erroneously reported on some social media sites.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/meS_hkns_RWtJ_T0ZSWGv7yvKZI=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)\/disney-cruise-man-overvboard-85-063025-516ae485e15442b08a243bed802e1a09.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>A rescue boat a crew bring the father and daughter who fell overboard back to the cruise ship.<\/span>life of chandler\/tiktok<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe Sheriff\u2019s Office applauded the rescue efforts. In a statement to PEOPLE on Tuesday night, a representative wrote, \u201cThe Disney crew was well prepared. Clearly, their training and readiness paid off because they executed a successful ocean rescue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile there doesn\u2019t appear to be anything suspicious,\u00a0Broward Sheriff\u2019s Office detectives are investigating the circumstances<\/a>\u00a0that led up to the child falling overboard,\u201d the statement continued.<\/p>\nA passenger onboard the ship named Chandler, who asked to be identified only by her first name, recalled the events for PEOPLE. \u201cThere was some kind of commotion<\/a>,\u201d the passenger said. \u201cThen this awful scream from what I assume is the mother and then this massive splash.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nChandler noted the events occurred while traveling between Nassau and Grand Bahama Island: \u201cIt sounded like hitting pavement, nothing like if you jump into a pool, it was so loud.\u201d<\/p>\n
She and her family went to the balcony to get a better look and 15 seconds later, what appeared to be a life vest was dropped into the water. Over the loudspeaker the family heard someone call \u201cMOB [Man overboard] port side,\u201d and three more flotation devices were thrown in.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nWithin minutes, a crew of four dropped off the ship and into a rescue boat. Chandler\u2019s\u00a0TikTok<\/a>\u00a0footage shows rescue workers reaching the father and daughter, pulling them out of the water and safely bringing them back to the ship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/eSWDOTqCvHwzZgYkuVbZNEpbFUk=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(790x486:792x488):format(webp)\/disney-dream-cruise-ship-063025-2-aa050b39a684422e82266d3a2e4ee19f.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>The ‘Disney Dream’ cruise ship docked in Port Canaveral, Florida.<\/span>Paul Hennessy\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nChandler claimed that the incident began at 11:15 a.m. and the duo was pulled up at 11:47 a.m. local time.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n\u201cI didn\u2019t think they\u2019d find them,\u201d she candidly told PEOPLE. \u201cI had to tell my own 9-year-old daughter Harper they were probably gone [because] they usually can\u2019t find people who fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
- \n
- The 5-year-old girl who fell overboard on a Disney Cruise ship was not placed on a balcony railing by her dad, authorities tell PEOPLE<\/li>\n
- The Broward County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the circumstances leading up to the fall<\/li>\n
- Both the father and daughter were rescued and safely returned to the ship on June 29<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The\u00a0father who saved his 5-year-old daughter after she fell overboard on a Disney Cruise<\/a>\u00a0did not place his child on the railing, as online rumors previously speculated.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nOn Sunday, June 29, the\u00a0Disney Dream<\/em>\u00a0cruise ship was returning to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. from a four-night cruise in the Bahamas when the little girl fell overboard from the ship\u2019s fourth deck. Her father jumped in after her and both were subsequently pulled from the water and returned to the boat by a Disney rescue team.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nThe Broward Sheriff’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE on Wednesday that the little girl was not being held by her father on the railing at the time of the fall. They acknowledged to\u00a0CBS News<\/a>\u00a0that the information was “erroneously reported on some social media sites.”<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n\n \n<\/div>\n<\/div>A rescue boat a crew bring the father and daughter who fell overboard back to the cruise ship.<\/span>life of chandler\/tiktok<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The Sheriff\u2019s Office applauded the rescue efforts. In a statement to PEOPLE on Tuesday night, a representative wrote, \u201cThe Disney crew was well prepared. Clearly, their training and readiness paid off because they executed a successful ocean rescue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile there doesn\u2019t appear to be anything suspicious,\u00a0Broward Sheriff\u2019s Office detectives are investigating the circumstances<\/a>\u00a0that led up to the child falling overboard,\u201d the statement continued.<\/p>\n
A passenger onboard the ship named Chandler, who asked to be identified only by her first name, recalled the events for PEOPLE. \u201cThere was some kind of commotion<\/a>,\u201d the passenger said. \u201cThen this awful scream from what I assume is the mother and then this massive splash.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nChandler noted the events occurred while traveling between Nassau and Grand Bahama Island: \u201cIt sounded like hitting pavement, nothing like if you jump into a pool, it was so loud.\u201d<\/p>\n
She and her family went to the balcony to get a better look and 15 seconds later, what appeared to be a life vest was dropped into the water. Over the loudspeaker the family heard someone call \u201cMOB [Man overboard] port side,\u201d and three more flotation devices were thrown in.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nWithin minutes, a crew of four dropped off the ship and into a rescue boat. Chandler\u2019s\u00a0TikTok<\/a>\u00a0footage shows rescue workers reaching the father and daughter, pulling them out of the water and safely bringing them back to the ship.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n\n \n<\/div>\n<\/div>The ‘Disney Dream’ cruise ship docked in Port Canaveral, Florida.<\/span>Paul Hennessy\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Chandler claimed that the incident began at 11:15 a.m. and the duo was pulled up at 11:47 a.m. local time.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n\u201cI didn\u2019t think they\u2019d find them,\u201d she candidly told PEOPLE. \u201cI had to tell my own 9-year-old daughter Harper they were probably gone [because] they usually can\u2019t find people who fall.\u201d<\/p>\n