World News Korner

An American woman in her 50s on a Hawaii-bound cruise ship leaped overboard on Wednesday afternoon in a bid to kill herself and is presumed dead, a spokeswoman for Princess Cruises said.

A passenger and a security camera witnessed the woman jumping off the 1,300-cabin Grand Princess ship into the Pacific Ocean about 650 miles northeast of Hilo, Hawaii, at about 2 p.m. PST, Princess Cruises spokeswoman Julie Benson said.

"This is very sad," Benson said. "This was not an accident. It was apparent that she went overboard intentionally."

The ship was bound for Hawaii on the third day of a 15-day trip that started in San Francisco, California, Benson said.

Benson said the crew turned the ship around and began searching for the woman when they were notified by a passenger. The search was continuing Wednesday evening, she said.