Woman Falls Overboard Carnival Cruise Ship Near Mexican Coast

The search is underway for a woman who fell overboard a Carnival cruise ship and into Pacific Ocean waters early Saturday morning.

The woman, whose name has not been disclosed but is said to be in her 20s, fell from the fifth-floor balcony of her stateroom on a Carnival Miracle ship about 35 miles off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico, CBS Los Angeles reported.

The incident occurred shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday and was captured on security footage, NBC News reported, citing the U.S. Coast Guard.

Carnival Miracle passenger Josh Zufelt told the news outlet that passengers were notified of the incident shortly after it occurred. The cruise ship came to a stop around half an hour after the woman fell, and crew members dropped a lifeboat into the water, the passenger said.

Southern California Coast Guard officials said in a statement that their search crews are now trying to locate the woman. They are being assisted in their search by a USCG helicopter crew based in San Diego and the Mexican navy.

The Carnival Miracle cruise ship left the Long Beach Cruise Terminal in Long Beach, California, Thursday. It is scheduled to return Sunday following a three-day voyage.

The ship was thoroughly searched throughout the day Saturday. The boat was released after assisting with the search, and it continued on to Ensenada.

"We advised Carnival Miracle guests this morning of an overboard incident involving one of our guests from the balcony of her stateroom," a spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line told NBC San Diego.

"After assisting the U.S Coast Guard with a search, the ship has been released and is proceeding to Ensenada and will then return to Long Beach as scheduled on Sunday morning. Our thoughts are with the guest and her family, and our Care Team is providing support," the statement continued.

The Carnival Miracle cruise ship can hold more than 2,100 guests and 934 crew members, according to its official website. It sails from Long Beach, San Diego and San Francisco to Alaska, Hawaii and Mexico. Trips aboard the ship range from two to more than 10 days.

As of this writing, no other details have been disclosed as the search for the woman and the investigation into the incident continue.

This comes months after the Netherlands Coast Guard started a search operation for an 80-year-old man who fell overboard the MS Europe cruise ship in northern Europe in August.

On Aug. 16, the ship was sailing in bad weather conditions in the North Sea near the Dutch islands of Vlieland and Texel, the Cruise Hive reported. There were high winds and waves at the height of 5 to 6 meters, which can make it dangerous when on the open decks of a cruise ship, KNRM reported.

After the ship was thoroughly searched for the missing man, the Coast Guard was immediately notified of a passenger possibly falling overboard. The search was eventually called off as searching conditions were difficult, and the chance of survival was low.