Photograph: Alexander Spatari/Getty Images
Two girls were injured in a fall from a ferris wheel at a Louisiana fairground on Saturday, the latest in a series of similar episodes calling to question the safety of carnival and amusement park rides.
The pair were thrown to the ground after the bucket in which they were seated flipped over during the Harvest Festival event at New Roads, 30 miles north-west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s capital.
Video of the aftermath of the incident posted to Facebook shows the compartment locked at almost 90 degrees to the ground, and police tending to a female at the base of the ride.
René Thibodeaux, sheriff of Pointe Coupée parish, said both girls were under 13 and were taken by helicopter to the Baton Rouge children’s hospital. Their condition was unknown on Monday, but they are not believed to have life-threatening injuries.
Madison Fields, an eyewitness, told Louisiana’s WBRZ News that one of the girls appeared to have severe facial injuries.
“It caught on to the wires, and then it tilted over, and the two girls fell out,” she said. “I heard like a body, just like something falling, I heard a loud boom. It was two girls, and one of the girls fell on her face.”
The Louisiana office of state fire marshal is investigating the case and allowed other rides at the fair to reopen after an inspection. Thibodeaux told NBC News that the video of the ferris wheel suggests a possible mechanical failure.
Also Saturday, riders on the Mamba, the tallest rollercoaster at Worlds of Fun theme park in Kansas City, Missouri, said they had to hold down a young girl whose seatbelt was unlatched to prevent her falling out. Authorities are investigating.
In September, several people were hurt when a cable snapped on a ride called the Zipper during a high school carnival in Los Angeles, sending two of its carriages crashing to the ground.
There have also been recent fatalities on theme park rides. In September, a 32-year-old disabled man became unresponsive and died on the Stardust Racers ride at Universal’s Epic Universe resort.
A preliminary investigation by the Florida consumer services department suggests the ride was working properly, though the family of victim Kevin Rodriguez Zavala insist he died of blunt force trauma after repeatedly striking his head on a metal bar on the ride after he became unconscious.
Last December, a jury awarded $310m to the family of a 14-year-old boy who was thrown to his death from the since dismantled freefall ride at Orlando’s Icon Park in March 2022. The episode prompted Florida legislators to pass the Tyre Sampson Act to bolster safety requirements for amusement park attractions.
