London [UK], July 29 : Eight riders, including an 8-year-old girl, were rescued from a rollercoaster that stalled near the highest point of the ride at an amusement park in England, New York Post reported.
As the riders approached the 72-foot apex of the Rage ride at Adventure Island in Southend, Essex, roughly 40 miles outside of London, it rolled to a stop on the steep tracks, leaving passengers positioned parallel to the ground.
According to a witness, the parkgoers were positioned horizontally for up to 45 minutes as rescuers had to harness the riders to safely move them onto a platform lift.
A mother, who was visiting the theme park with her 6-year-old daughter, told South West News Service (SWNS): “It literally just got stuck, right at the top. They harnessed them out one at a time. They were up there for at least half an hour, 45 minutes probably.”
“It was all quite calm to be fair, the park seemed to handle it really, really well,” the unidentified witness continued. “They were reassuring them, there was no screaming or mass hysteria, though obviously there was a large crowd of people around and lots of people there.”
Another witness, Gemma Fletcher, said she heard a “bang” and “some clattering and screeching” before the ride stopped, according to the Daily Mail, New York Post reported.
Fletcher said: “The riders didn’t seem distressed as there was no audible screaming and no flailing arms or anything. However, when they evacuated the ride, the first man they took off was clinging onto the lift and looked in a bad way.”
“By the reaction of the staff members and the sound the ride made, this wasn’t anything they had rehearsed for. This was a serious, non-predictable and non-rehearsed, emergency,” she said.
Another woman, who was not named, said she was “so scared” when the ride stopped because her brother was on it, but said “surprisingly he was fearless about it,” New York Post reported citing Daily Mail.
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