News & Articles

Passengers who sailed on the cruise ship that lost power and drifted at sea for days are looking to get compensation for their traumatic experience and residual medical problems, Detroit Press reports. About three dozen people are suing Miami-based Carnival Corp. for alleged problems such as kidney stones, post-traumatic stress disorder and respiratory problems.

On February 7, 2013 the Triumph left Galveston, Texas for a four-day cruise, with a stop in Cozumel, Mexico. On February 10, a fire broke out at 5 a.m., causing the engine to lose power and leaving the shop without most of its electricity. Passengers were forced to drift at sea for five days, surrounded by sewage in the hallways, limited water, noxious odors and extreme heat.

The lawsuit has gone to trial and passengers have been testifying before Senior U.S. District Judge Donald Graham without a jury. Testimony finished on Wednesday after the three-week trial, and Graham said he would make a decision later.

Many of the 33 passengers said that the traumatic experience caused them to have emotional issues, such as PTSD, anxiety and depression. Some passengers allege that they suffered physical problems because of the foul conditions, including leg pain, diarrhea, upper respiratory issues and even aggravated hemorrhoids. Dr. Ernest Schiodo, an expert witness for the passengers, said that the health problems were “caused by the exposure or aggravated by the exposure” due to conditions on the ship, including exposure to human waste.

Larry Poret of Lufkin, Texas brought his then-12-year old daughter Rebecca on the cruise. He says he remains scarred by how frightened she was, especially when trying to sleep in the deck in the pitch black nights. “Something that was supposed to be so much fun turned out to be a nightmare. I felt like I let my daughter down…You just can’t get it out of your mind.”

Carnival says that at least nine other Triumph lawsuits are pending in South Florida federal court. One proposed class action lawsuit is looking to represent all of the passengers, roughly 3,000 people. Carnival is the world’s largest cruise line; tickets require lawsuits to only be filed in South Florida federal court.

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A 68-year old West Palm Beach man was killed Tuesday morning at around 9.15 after being struck by a crane near the intersection of South County Road and Royal Palm Way. Police say that James Brennan died at the scene after the 40-ton vehicle turned form Royal Palm Way onto southbound South County Road. According to Capt. Jeff Trylch, the crane was driven by 49-year old Christoper Geroda, of Royal Palm Beach. Apparently, Geroda did not know that he had hit somebody and kept driving to a construction site on Jungle Road.

The crane was owned by Beyel Brothers Crane and Rigging of South Florida. The company has a local office in Riviera Beach.   

Keith Nardone of Keith Nardone Painting was a witness and described the horrific scene to Palm Beach Daily News. “I saw this guy fall underneath the crane. And when he fell down, he tried to grab up the middle of the crane to pull himself up, and the crane started dragging the guy. I tooted my horn and tried to holler at the guy (Geroda) to stop, and by the time I opened up my door to get out and try to run in front of him to stop him, the guy (Brennan) let go underneath the crane.” He said.

Nardone also told Palm Beach Daily News that it looked like Brennan was not in the crosswalk. He looked like he was just waiting to cross the street but somehow fell near the middle of the crane towards the back tires.

“I don’t believe the driver of the crane had any clue there was a guy there…He was just standing at the curb getting ready to move across, and I think he just fell down underneath the crane. It was a horrific sight. It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” said Nardone.

The accident closed traffic between Royal Palm Way and Brazilian Avenue until about 2:40 p.m.

This is the second vehicle-pedestrian death to happen in the 300 block of South County Road since 2000. According to the police records department, a woman died that year after being hit by a vehicle 18 feet north of the crosswalk between Brazilian Avenue and South County Road.

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Saturday was a tragic day in South Florida, as three people were killed in three different car crashes. Miami Herald reports that on Sunday, the Florida Highway Patrol identified the victims in the collisions. A 14-year old girl named Daniela Perez was killed in the first crash, which occurred on the Julia Tuttle Causeway west of Alton Road before 5p.m., the incident report says. Perez was in a Chevy Trailblazer with six other people when the driver, 43-year old Arnaldo Campo Romaguera, lost control of the SUV.

The vehicle hit the guardrail on the north shoulder and flipped over, landing on its roof in the grassy embankment. Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Ignatius Carroll described the scene as “chaotic” because there were so many victims, and rescuers were not sure how many passengers were in the car. Carroll says that Perez was ejected from the vehicle when the crash happened. The accident is still under investigation, according to Miami Herald. The other injured victims were Romaguera, 40-year-old Miriam Borrego, 22-year-old, Dayron Gonzalez, 7-year-old Barbara Urrutia, 42-year-old Jose Miguel Sanchez Blanco and 36-year-old Barbaro Urrutia. These victims, some with critical injuries, were all taken to Ryder Trauma Center.

The second crash happened on the southbound Palmetto Expressway north of Okeechobee Road at about 6:30 p.m. Tokavia Hardy, who was driving a Ford Expedition, rear –ended a Toyota Corolla and dragged it about 500 feet, killing 52-year-old Sara Beatriz Hernandez Medina of Miami. Medina was a passenger in the Corolla. None of the Expedition’s passengers, including 5 children, were injured. Juan Balibrea Llerena, the driver of the Corolla, was also not injured. Miguel Hernandez, 58, was a passenger in the Corolla and suffered minor injuries.

Twenty-two year-old Carla Trinidad of Miami was killed in the third crash, which happened on Westbound 836, west of 45^th Ave. at 10:15 p.m. The driver of a red vehicle was speeding and changed lanes in front of a Toyota Camry, which swerved right and in turn hit a converted cab bus. The bus hit a barrier wall and flipped, ejecting Trinidad, who died later from her injuries. The drivers of the Camry and bus were 23-year-old Janol Vinson of Kentucky and 36-year-old Marnell Smith of Miramar, respectively. The other passengers in the van were Viorica Dumbrava, Klara Kocvarona, Andrea Bohrn and Rosa Occhibianchi. They all suffered minor injuries. An Audi driven by Angelica Armador, 32, of Sunrise, then collided with the van; Armador also suffered minor injuries.  

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Five people, including four University of South Florida students, died in a horrific crash that occurred Sunday on Interstate 275 in Tampa. The fatal crash occurred around 2 a.m., when an unidentified driver of an SUV was heading south in the northbound lanes of I-275. Authorities say that the SUV collided with a Hyundai Sonata, bursting into flames. The four victims in the Hyundai were all males in their early 20’s and were fraternity brothers that the University of South Florida.

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