Boston man dies on cruise to Bermuda

A 22-year-old Boston man fell to his death early yesterday after he tried to slide down a banister and plunged four flights on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship in Bermuda, island police said.

Richard Mulloy had just returned to the ship after having drinks in St. George with his cousin, Bermuda police said. The two men were on their way to a seventh-floor disco event shortly after midnight when Mulloy climbed onto the banister on the ship's fifth floor, police and cruise officials said.

When nurses arrived, Mulloy was unresponsive with a serious head wound, police said. He was rushed to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Paget, where he died about 3 a.m., police said.

The Norwegian Majesty cruise left Boston on Sunday and arrived in Bermuda on Tuesday. It is scheduled to return to Boston tomorrow, Norwegian Cruise Line officials said.

It was not clear how Mulloy's body will be returned.

A passenger on the ship, Walter Brooks, editor of CapeCodToday.com, said in a telephone interview from the ship that passengers had not been informed of the death as of last evening.

The Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Lines, whose fleet of 15 ships operates out of 11 American cities, released an 85-word statement yesterday confirming the death.

"The thoughts and prayers of the entire NCL family are with the family and friends at this difficult time," the statement said.

In 2003, eight Norwegian Cruise Lines crew members were killed by a boiler explosion on a ship in Miami.

Cruise lines have come under scrutiny and have been the subject of litigation recently after a series of passenger deaths.

Javier C. Hernandez can be reached at jhernandez@globe.com.