1 Dead, 4 Injured After Massive ‘Rogue Wave’ Hits Cruise Ship Windows

So sad. One person is dead, and four others have been injured after a giant “rogue wave” crashed through several windows on a cruise ship.

According to WRAL, Viking‘s Polaris cruise ship was traveling towards Ushuaia, Argentina, during a storm on Tuesday night when the trip took a terrifying turn. A massive wave suddenly crashed into the side of the vessel, causing several windows to shatter. Considering how high up the windows are on the ship, that was truly a massive wave!

One guest aboard the ship, Suzie Gooding, recalled to the outlet how fast this all happened:

“Everything was fine until the rogue wave hit, and it was just sudden. Shocking. We didn’t know if we should get our gear ready for abandoning ship.”

The force was so extreme, it gave passengers Titanic fears:

“We wondered if we hit an iceberg. And there are no icebergs out here, but that’s how it felt.”

So scary! Following the incident, the company announced that one passenger, reportedly a 62-year-old woman, was killed as a result of the wave. Four others also suffered from non-life-threatening injuries and were treated by the ship’s medical staff. Awful. Viking said in regards to the passengers impacted by the wave:

“We have notified the guest’s family and shared our deepest sympathies. We will continue to offer our full support to the family in the hours and days ahead … Our focus remains on the safety and wellbeing of our guests and crew, and we are working directly with them to arrange return travel.”

It also noted that the ship “sustained limited damage” and will be “investigating the facts surrounding this incident.” We’d hope so — it kind of feels like the boat should not have been in waters that volatile, right?

Our hearts go out to those who’ve been affected by this tragedy at this time. See more (below):