'Our boat is sinking!': Woman killed after double-decker ferry sinks in Bahamas

A 75-year-old American woman is dead after a double-decker ferry carrying cruise ship passengers to a popular tourist island sank in the Bahamas, local officials said.

The incident took place Tuesday as the boat departed Paradise Island, Nassau, while ferrying tourists to Blue Lagoon Island, a spokesperson with The Royal Bahamas Police Force confirmed to USA TODAY.

The tourist destination is located about three miles northeast of Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.

Frightening video taken from the scene shows passengers wearing orange life vests around their neck, clinging to one side of the ferry as the vessel sinks into Caribbean turquoise waters.

Here's what we know:

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At least one American citizen died

Police said the ferry left a dock in Paradise Island about 9:30 a.m. with about 100 passengers on board, the Nassau Guardian reported.

"The vessel experienced rough seas in the area, which resulted in the boat taking on water and becoming submerged in waters just outside of Blue Lagoon," police chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings told the outlet.

Police reported a 75-year-old woman from Colorado died in the incident, according to the outlet.

Her identity and cause of death were not immediately known.

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Passengers were reportedly all from a cruise ship

According to a statement released online from Blue Lagoon Island, the passengers on board the ferry were from a cruise ship.

The accident took place as the vessel was approaching Blue Lagoon Island, the statement said and emergency teams from the island "quickly arrived to render assistance."

“Passengers and five staff members were located and brought to the island, and two passengers were taken to the hospital for additional care," the statement continues.

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'Our boat is sinking'

"Out boat is sinking," Kelly Schissel, an American tourist on board the vessel, is heard saying in a TikTok video she filmed as the boat took on water. "Everybody is freaking out."

Chaos and screaming is heard in the background of the video which shows people with life jackets around their necks, some leaning over the boat looking into the water watching in horror as it sinks.

"I'm on the top floor of a ferry," Schissel says as she continued to film, the boat seen tipped on its side into choppy waters.

At one point, people are seen jumping off what appears to be the back of the boat into the water as others on board continue to shout.

About a half dozen people in the shot are seen swimming towards another boat stopped a short distance from the ferry.

"We were almost there... we weren't actually that close to shore it just kind of looked like it," Schissel said in a follow up video on TikTok shot after she made it to land.

She said when water began pouring into the boat, many passengers were waiting for instruction from crew members, but they reportedly did not give any.

So when they saw someone jump into the rough water, she said, they followed in suit with life jackets and swam to a nearby boat until other boats arrived to help in the rescue effort.

The conditions of those transported to the hospital were not immediately known Wednesday.

In addition to local authorities, according to the Blue Lagoon statement, the island alerted the cruise ship and the U.S.Embassy about the accident.

The statement said the organization would release more details as they become available

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.