Police close fairground ride that ejected five people when safety bar opened
- 4 years ago
Police closed a fairground ride today (December 2) after five carnival-goers were hurled from their seats after a safety bar opened.
Fourteen people were on the 'cliffhanger' style ride at a carnival in Lopburi, central Thailand, on Saturday night at around 9 pm local time.
But at the peak of the rotation their joy turned to terror when the the metal bar holding them in place came loose.
Footage from bystanders shows five of the revellers - including two children - being flung from the seats and smashed into the steel platform on the Pirates of the Caribbean themed 'Crazy Wave' ride.
One boy was hurled over a barrier and landed on the ground - before standing up and dusting himself down and having a head wound bandaged up.
Four others slammed into the steel deck and slid along the ground from the force of being thrown by the moving mechanical arm. They then piled up on top of each other.
A 13-year-old girl was taken to hospital where medics found she had a broken leg. She has now been released.
Police closed the ride down while the man operating it, Ake, 30, made a grovelling apology for his ''carelessness'' for not checking the locking mechanism.
He said: "I was in charge at the control centre because my friend who also ran station went to the toilet and then had a break.
"I want to apologise to the people who were hurt and their family but I did not know much about the machine so I did not check anything before I started it."
Shocked onlooker, Jidapa, was recording her relatives on the fairground ride when she captured the accident.
She said: ''I was taking my young relatives to the fair and watching this ride because it looked so scary. I just heard people screaming at the top then they fell out when the ride came down.
''The people who fell out hit the floor very hard, but they kind of slid along the ground, too. One of the girls was crying because of the shock. One boy was thrown outside. I'm very shaken by it, too. I've never seen this happen before.''
Paramedics arrived at the scene and took the walking wounded to the nearest hospital.
Police Major General Natthapol Sukrasorn said that he ordered the machine to be temporary closed while they will check the owner's licenses. Officers warned that he could be prosecuted as well as sued by the injured people.
The police chief said: "We talked to the machine owner and asked them to hand their licenses into the station so we can check if they are legal. We also assigned engineers to check the condition of the mechanics on the ride. They will investigate the ride to see if it had a good standard of safety.
"If the licenses for the ride were legally registered, the owners will be allowed to continue running the business, but if they were not, we will charge them."
Fourteen people were on the 'cliffhanger' style ride at a carnival in Lopburi, central Thailand, on Saturday night at around 9 pm local time.
But at the peak of the rotation their joy turned to terror when the the metal bar holding them in place came loose.
Footage from bystanders shows five of the revellers - including two children - being flung from the seats and smashed into the steel platform on the Pirates of the Caribbean themed 'Crazy Wave' ride.
One boy was hurled over a barrier and landed on the ground - before standing up and dusting himself down and having a head wound bandaged up.
Four others slammed into the steel deck and slid along the ground from the force of being thrown by the moving mechanical arm. They then piled up on top of each other.
A 13-year-old girl was taken to hospital where medics found she had a broken leg. She has now been released.
Police closed the ride down while the man operating it, Ake, 30, made a grovelling apology for his ''carelessness'' for not checking the locking mechanism.
He said: "I was in charge at the control centre because my friend who also ran station went to the toilet and then had a break.
"I want to apologise to the people who were hurt and their family but I did not know much about the machine so I did not check anything before I started it."
Shocked onlooker, Jidapa, was recording her relatives on the fairground ride when she captured the accident.
She said: ''I was taking my young relatives to the fair and watching this ride because it looked so scary. I just heard people screaming at the top then they fell out when the ride came down.
''The people who fell out hit the floor very hard, but they kind of slid along the ground, too. One of the girls was crying because of the shock. One boy was thrown outside. I'm very shaken by it, too. I've never seen this happen before.''
Paramedics arrived at the scene and took the walking wounded to the nearest hospital.
Police Major General Natthapol Sukrasorn said that he ordered the machine to be temporary closed while they will check the owner's licenses. Officers warned that he could be prosecuted as well as sued by the injured people.
The police chief said: "We talked to the machine owner and asked them to hand their licenses into the station so we can check if they are legal. We also assigned engineers to check the condition of the mechanics on the ride. They will investigate the ride to see if it had a good standard of safety.
"If the licenses for the ride were legally registered, the owners will be allowed to continue running the business, but if they were not, we will charge them."