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Please step away from the belt buckle

Associated Press
Published September 3, 2007

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Miami

A child's grenade-shaped belt buckle caused a lengthy delay for passengers who were trying to leave a cruise ship Sunday morning, a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman said. Thousands of cruise passengers aboard the Freedom of the Seas vessel waited several hours as a Miami-Dade police bomb squad investigated the scene. Transportation Security Administration workers spotted the buckle while screening a suitcase. Passengers were kept aboard the boat as a precaution, said Lynn Martenstein, a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman. Some passengers were told to go back onto the ship as the terminal was evacuated, one passenger told the Miami Herald. The Freedom of the Seas is the world's largest cruise ship. It can hold 4,300 passengers and 1,300 crew members, and was returning from an eastern Caribbean cruise.

Tavernier

Two snorkelers die in Keys accidents

Two snorkelers died in separate accidents during the busy Labor Day holiday weekend in the Florida Keys, officials said Sunday. Omar J. Viera, 31, of Orlando, died Saturday after he was run over by a 25-foot vessel while snorkeling off a boat in the Atlantic Ocean near Bahia Honda State Park, said Officer Bobby Dube, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The operator of the boat told officials he didn't see Viera's dive flag until it was too late. Also Saturday, another man from Orlando died while snorkeling for lobster on a vacation to celebrate his wedding anniversary. Matthew Kleber, 37, was found on the ocean bottom less than 2 miles off Islamorada, Dube said. He was holding on to a rope tied to a boat being driven by his wife when he disappeared, Dube said. Aside from the two deaths, officers also were involved in a complicated rescue when a 20-foot boat plunged 70 feet into a patch of mangroves near Tavernier Creek, Dube said. Four injured people were taken to hospitals after about 20 officers teamed to rescue the group among twisted roots and foliage.

Port Orange

Intruder dies in struggle, police say

An intruder who tried to force his way into a home died during a violent struggle with the resident, police said. Randy Lee Miller, 38, tried to push his way into 40-year-old Andrew Merritt's home about 2:15 a.m. Saturday, Port Orange police said. It was the second time that morning Miller had pounded on the door demanding to speak with someone who no longer lived at the rental home. Miller grabbed Merritt and they struggled, police said. Merritt's girlfriend called 911. The two men fell over the porch rail and landed in the yard. When officers arrived, Merritt had Miller pinned in the yard. The officers determined Miller was dead. An autopsy has been scheduled. Merritt was not arrested. "It appears to be a case of self-defense," said police Capt. Wayne Miller.

[Last modified September 2, 2007, 23:51:43]

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