Parents cling to screaming kids 20ft in air as rollercoaster breaks down mid-ride
28.08.2022 - 18:21
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Parents were clinging onto their children while they were suspended 20ft in the air 'for at least 90 minutes' from a broken down rollercoaster, an eyewitness has said.
Kids were pictured screaming as they became stuck on the Rocket Coaster at Southport Pleasureland yesterday afternoon (Saturday). One girl had to be rushed to hospital after suffering a head injury and falling unconscious when the ride suddenly stopped.
Her father desperately clambered off the ride to get to her, the Mirror reports. She and 19 other people had to be rescued from the rollercoaster.
READ MORE:Parents cling to screaming kids 20ft in air on broken Southport Pleasureland rollercoaster
Michael Bowman, 57, who had travelled with his wife Christine, 35, and eight-year-old son from Stoke-on-Trent said that they left the park with safety concerns, after two more rides suffered technical issues. He said: "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. 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.
"People were just stood watching in shock. We know that a young girl had passed out and the father was trying to climb over the barrier out of the ride to get to his daughter.
"You could see the worry in the father's face. The ambulance was on its way at that point. They must have been up there a good hour and a half."
He claimed that they were stranded at least 20ft in the air. Maintenance teams for Pleasureland rushed to the scene and began rescuing the