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5 amusement park rides that went from fun to fatal real soon. Viral videos

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Akshata Kamath
Akshata KamathMay 13, 2022 | 16:32

5 amusement park rides that went from fun to fatal real soon. Viral videos

From negligence of workers to worn-out machinery, here are 5 times when amusement park rides turned really fatal.

If I had to tell you my best experience of getting an insane rush of adrenalin, dopamine and nervous excitement all together, it would be my 20-second ride at the Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi. 

There is this one ride called Turbo Track which literally shoots you vertically, out of the entire Ferrari World stadium for like 3-4 seconds, it hangs there for 2 seconds, and then you drop (from whatever height that thing stops at). Obviously, it was an experience of a lifetime! 

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But not everyone chooses to go for these kinds of rides. That's the thing about gigantic, out-of-proportion rides that throw you hundreds of feet in the air. People do get scary thoughts like: "what if it falls down mid-air?'', ''what if you fall off with it'', ''what if you get injured mid-air'', ''what if something goes wrong?''. 

Now life is dear to everyone and even dearer when you get on such an amusement ride. Though people usually have a good time, some, unfortunately turn fatal. Here are 5 times amusement park rides turned into a disaster.

1. WORN AND TORN 

All you expect on a water slide is to slide through the loops and get dumped happily in the pool of water. But on May 7, 2022 tourists at Indonesia's Kenjeran Park had quite a traumatic turn of events when parts of the water slide they were on, came crashing down. The water slide snapped in half and sent adults and children plummeting down 30 feet and crashing them on the ground. When the slide crashed, 16 were trapped on the slide parts and 3 broke their bones.  

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 Investigations found that the ride had worn out and had weakened over time, thus leading to this disaster. 

2. PENDULUM BREAKS DOWN MID-AIR 

Going on those pendulum rides is usually fun because of the excitement that hits you every time the pendulum switches directions.

But you might remember this fatal incident from 2019 when a pendulum ride in the Kankaria Adventure Park, Ahmedabad, Gujarat broke down, and the seats carrying 30 people crashed down. At the time of the accident, the large pipe, which holds all the seats together, snapped and crashed down. 28 people were severely injured and 3 people were killed because of the accident.

 

3. TIGHTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS PLEASE 

Tyre Sampson, a 14-year old boy had visited the Icon Park at Orlando, USA to enjoy the 'Free Fall' Ride. 'The Free Fall' Ride was launched in December 2021 as the world's highest freestanding drop tower and riders were raised to a height of 430 feet and then dropped. Unlike everyone, Tyre fell to his death while the ride was descending. 

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Investigations by a forensic engineering firm revealed that Tyre's death was because of the negligence of the ride and park operators.

Firstly, Tyre was overweight and ideally should not have been on the ride in the first place since he weighed about 380 pounds. The passenger capacity, which was discovered later, was only about 280 pounds per seat. But since there were no weight restrictions mentioned anywhere, he was let in. 

Second, he was not properly secured to his seat. There was just one harness that could secure riders from the top. Now once a rider sits in his seat, the gap between the seat and harness is allowed to be 3 inches. But since Tyre was large in since, the gap in his harness and seat was 7 inches.

Third, did safety sensors not pick up on this excess gap before the ride began? It did. But the safety sensor was manually adjusted by someone. And when the ride descended, the gap increased from 7 inches to 11 inches. And this gap turned out to be fatal for Tyre since he slipped to his death through this gap.

Alternatively, an additional $22 belt could have saved his life. 

4. SWEPT AWAYYY

What happens when you pay for a wave, but you get a tsunami instead?

In July 2019, 44 people were injured and 5 were hospitalised for fractured ribs at a water park in Yulong Shuiyun Water Amusement Park in Longjing, China. There was a malfunction in the wave pool which triggered a tsunami-like wave of water that swallowed dozens of swimmers and threw people out of the pool.

The sudden tsunami crashed into tourists and as people ran, they landed on the pavement, injured and bloodied. A government notice on China's Weibo said that the incident was caused by a power cut that damaged electronic equipment in the tsunami pool control room. This led to the waves in the tsunami pool becoming too big and injuring people. 

5.  LIFE SAVED

In June 2019, a fun experience turned fatal for a lady when she fell off her seat on a ride when it turned upside down. She dangled from the pendulum for a split second as the ride rotated  above. She was then hit by the pendulum after it came down. As she fell to the ground, she was pushed behind because of the momentum of the ride. 

While operators tried to stop the ride in some manner, the woman managed to stand, after being thrown backward. 

We hope you never have to go through something as traumatic as this. Especially after paying a bomb for a ticket in amusement parks.  

Last updated: May 13, 2022 | 16:32
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