A CARIBBEAN Airlines Ltd (CAL) plane en route to Trinidad had to be diverted on Monday to Puerto Rico after a female passenger began experiencing breathing problems during the flight.

On Tuesday, speaking to Newsday on the condition of anonymity, a passenger said the woman died on the plane two hours after it made an emergency landing at the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico, just before 3 am on Monday. At the time, crew members were still waiting for a medical team to arrive and assist.

The passenger said doctors who were also passengers on the flight confirmed the woman's death and asked that the body be covered with cloth to prevent unnecessary trauma to other passengers including children.

The stress of seeing one of their own dying was worsened, the passenger said, by the fact that they were all herded from the plane into the check-in area of the airport and left to fend for themselves for over 18 hours.

The passenger claimed no food, drink nor accommodation were offered by anyone to the travellers during that time and they were not allowed to board a second CAL plane which arrived on Monday afternoon to take them to Trinidad.

As the hours passed with no word from airport officials and with no food or even bottled water being offered, some passengers purchased tickets to Miami from another airline and boarded the next flight out of Puerto Rico.

For those who remained, roughly 100, they had no choice on Monday night but to sit on whatever chairs were available, lie on top of their luggage and, in some cases, sleep on the floor.

The passenger said both CAL planes remained at the Puerto Rico airport that night and passengers were told the next available flight to Trinidad would be at 10 pm on Tuesday.

A press release on Tuesday morning from CAL confirmed that flight BW483 was diverted to Puerto Rico after a medical emergency arose. The release did not indicate the nature of the emergency.

Later Tuesday, Newsday's source described the final moments of the passenger who died.

'The passenger was joyful and laughing and then the next minute, she was gasping for air and she was slowly leaning over but she didn't fall over. Afterwards, we learned there were four medical doctors on the flight and they were around her trying to resuscitate her. One of the doctors was heard saying she had no pulse before we even landed in Puerto Rico. When we landed we sat in the plane with her for two hours before we were asked to disembark. They removed her after that.'

The passengers, she said, were then asked to disembark from the aircraft and were taken to the baggage area of the airport where the group which included children and seniors in wheelchairs were left to sleep overnight.

'No water, no blanket for the freezing airport Monday night, no food as of 18 hours. It's crazy. CAL only contacted us around seven the next morning,' she said describing the incident as inhumane.

Soca star Darryl "Farmer Nappy" Henry was also on board the flight.

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