on board that cruise ship. the ship is on the move at this house. 300 passengers have been kept on board. what they have to do or they won t let them off. abc s victor oquendo again tonight. reporter: tonight, we re learning the 300 passengers and crew aboard the freewinds cruise ship will remain quarantined when they arrive at the ship s home port on the island of curacao. curacao s ministry of health telling abc news all of our efforts are geared toward trying to avoid any further spread of disease. everyone on board has been stuck on the ship since arriving in st. lucia tuesday when a doctor confirmed a single case of measles. the freewinds shown here in a promotional video is reportedly owned by the church of scientology and used for religious retreats and advanced spiritual counseling. that ship now hours away from curacao. health officials say when it will arrive they will board and assess who was vaccinated or needs to be beforehand and those may be allowed to disembark. i
maria hit the island. more than 3 million american citizens live there. the official death toll had been 64. tonight, that death toll now 2,975 lives lost. abc s victor oquendo again tonight. reporter: tonight, nearly one year after hurricane maria slammed into puerto rico, a staggering new number. a death toll vastly underestimated. the independent report from researchers at george washington university reveals 2,975 people lost their lives due to maria. the official government death toll had been 64. the power out for months, medicine in short supply. president trump visiting puerto rico, tossing paper towels to those affected. and then declaring maria s destruction was far short of katrina. if you look at a real catastrophe like katrina, and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died. reporter: the president, at the time, speaking of the