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Local Woman Stranded on Carnival Cruise Ship

A River Valley woman is stranded on a Carnival cruise ship along with more than 4,000 other passengers and crew.

A River Valley woman is stranded on a Carnival cruise ship along with more than 4,000 other passengers and crew.

The Carnival Triumph was headed home Sunday when a fire broke out in the engine room. The boat has been stranded in the Gulf of Mexico since then.

“I'm like devastated that they're all having to go through this, not just her but everybody,” said Lettie Stone.

Stone says her cousin, Ryann Worsham, of Stigler, OK, is stuck on the boat. Stone found out on Facebook. “One of my cousins had posted that it was her cruise ship that we had just seen on the news,” said Stone.

Stone had the opportunity to talk to her cousin briefly. “She had horrible phone reception and all she could say all I could get out of her was that it's not as bad as it really sounds,” said Stone.

Passengers reported sewage running down the walls and floors, problems with running water, and little electricity. Some chose to sleep outside to stay cool.

Stone says she talked to her cousin as she was getting ready to fill out paperwork.

“They were doing an intercom thing where they were telling them what to do to get prepared to get off the ship and everything,” she said. “She comes back on and she goes it’s not as bad as it sounds and she started trying to tell me something about the water lines and it was just cutting in and out real bad and then the next thing I know it ended the call.”

The ship would have docked sooner, but a tow line snapped Thursday afternoon as tugboats steered the ship to shore.

“I'm just glad to know they're finally going to be able to get off the ship and get back home and get rested and know that they don't have to go through it again,” said Stone.

The ship is expected to dock Thursday night in Mobile, Alabama.

Once the ship docks people on board will be flown home at no cost to them, the cruise line said. Passengers will also get a full refund, credit for a future trip, and reimbursement for almost all expenses.

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