Terrified parents forced to cling on to screaming kids after rollercoaster suddenly stops 20ft in the air for 90 MINUTES
TERRIFIED parents were forced to cling on to their screaming kids after a rollercoaster suddenly stopped 20ft in the air for 90 minutes.
One child was rushed to hospital after 19 people became trapped on the ride in Southport Pleasureland in Merseyside at midday yesterday.
The child was unconscious but breathing when the ambulance service arrived and was treated at the scene before being rushed to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Witnesses say young children were dangling from the tracks of the broken-down fair ride.
A cherry picker was used to remove all the people trapped on the ride, which is said to have taken around 90 minutes.
Parents have now told of the terrifying incident.
Michael Bowman, 57, who had been at the park with his wife and eight-year-old son told : "We walked towards The Rocket and I thought something's not right there.
"All of a sudden a cherry picker came past us and all staff were guiding people out the way.
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"We looked up and said 'Oh my God, it's stuck all the way round'. You could see that it was on an angle and they were all leaning.
"The parents had hold of the children because they were leaning out of the carriage on the bend."
While 19 people were stuck on the ride paramedic crews from three ambulances gave precautionary checks to 17 people, reports claim.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said: "A multi-agency meeting took place between North West Ambulance Service and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and the Health and Safety Executive was informed.
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"The ride is to be isolated and a full inspection to be carried out."
A spokesperson for Pleasureland said: "We are sorry for the distress caused to passengers on one of our coasters yesterday. Our immediate priority was looking after everyone’s safe removal from the ride.
"Senior management and maintenance team members are today continuing a thorough investigation into carriages stopping on the park’s Rocket Coaster yesterday morning.
"All routine maintenance checks had been carried out, as they are on all rides each morning, before the ride went into commission.
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"The ride did exactly what its safety settings are programmed to do and stopped on detecting a fault.
"It was the first run of the day and the ride, which has a 22-person capacity, was loaded with 19 riders.
“No one was at any risk of falling from the ride, the carriages were secure on the track and the park’s operations director immediately made his way up the gantry to speak to riders and explain that they would be brought off the ride safely, as part of the park’s instant response safety process.
"At the same time, the maintenance crew was further immobilising carriages to ensure passengers’ safe exit from the ride via one of the park’s cherry pickers.
"A young girl who had lost consciousness was the team’s priority, and immediately checked by ambulance paramedics.
"That first-response healthcare team was available to other passengers.
"On seeing how the park was handling the situation and safely retrieving passengers, the fire brigade commended the team, took no action and left the scene.
“As a consequence of calling maintenance staff to attend the coaster, one or two of the other rides were off for a very short while during the day.
"This is because the systems require reset buttons to be pressed – something that is maintenance’s responsibility. This represented a very short disruption.
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“The log flume was working normally. The carriages pause to allow proceeding carriages to clear before the next one is released. This is normal running.
“Our priority is always safety and our team checks and maintains rides, and trains to keep emergency procedures front of mind, should they be needed, so they are delivered fast and effectively. Once again we apologise to our passengers.”