Officials in Wisconsin are investigating how eight people became trapped upside down on a rollercoaster – some of them for more than three hours – at a festival over the holiday weekend.
The nightmarish incident took place on Sunday at the Forest county festival in Crandon, a city of about 1,700 north-west of Green Bay.
Rescue workers responded to a report that passengers were stuck on a fairground ride and arrived to find eight people hanging upside down from their safety harnesses, according to a press release issued by the Crandon fire department. The release described rollercoaster cars stuck “near the top of the loop with passengers being held in inverted position by safety harnesses”.
Firefighters called in “specialized teams” to support the rescue due to the height of the ride, using ladder trucks to reach passengers and securing each one before releasing their over-the-shoulder safety bars, the fire department said. The rescue was also assisted by a fortunate bystander who turned out to be “an off-duty firefighter with specialized rope rescue training”.
It took nearly three and a half hours to get all the passengers down. One person was taken to a hospital.
The exact cause is under investigation but a ride operator described it as a “mechanical failure”, according to the fire department.
The state department of safety and professional services is responsible for reviewing plans for amusement parks and inspecting rides in Wisconsin. Spokesperson John Beard said in an email to the Associated Press that the agency is investigating and dispatched an inspector on Monday to the scene in Crandon. He had no further information on possible findings.
