Tragic befell an Indiana family as a toddler fell to her death after slipping from her granddad’s arms on a cruise ship.

The mother Kimberley Schultz Wiegand was heard screaming in pain after her 18-month-old daughter Chloe plunged 150ft feet from the Freedom of the Seas liner.

The child';s father has been identified as South Bend police officer Alan Wiegand.

Her grandfather, Salvatorre Anello, reportedly told police that he lost grip of his granddaughter who fell onto concrete and was rushed to hospital but could not be saved.

The ship was docked in the Pan American II dock in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico.

Fellow travelers said they heard the heartbroken parent wailing in agony in the wake of the tragedy.

A nearby passenger told Telemundo PR: “We heard the screams of the families because we were close.

“A cry of pain of that nature does not compare with any other cry.”

The little girl, Chloe and her extended family from Indiana were vacationing together aboard the Freedom of the Seas cruise ship, operated by the Royal Caribbean cruise line. 

Both her sets of grandparents, her parents and her younger brother were on board the ship at the time.

The South Bend Police Department in Indiana have said they believe the incident was a tragic accident but an investigation into the death is ongoing.

Elmer Román, of the local Department of Public Security, said: “Police have now launched an investigation and are trawling CCTV of the ship.

The Freedom of the Seas, which can accommodate nearly 5,000 people was ending a week-long Caribbean cruise through Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados.