Parents have spoken of their horror after a rollercoaster suddenly ground to a halt on Saturday, leaving families stranded for '90 minutes'. Parents were clinging onto their children as they were suspended 20ft in the air on a ride at Southport Pleasureland.
Fire crews and paramedics attended the scene in which 19 people had to be rescued. Among those, 17 were given precautionary checks by paramedics, but a young girl had lost consciousness when on the ride. Southport Pleasureland have said senior management and the theme park's maintenance team are continuing a 'thorough investigation' today (Sunday) 'into carriages stopping on the park’s Rocket Coaster yesterday morning'.
They added in a statement that the ride had a maintenance check in the morning and that the ride stopped, as it should, after detecting a fault. They said 'no-one was at risk of falling' from the ride and that the fire brigade commended the team for their actions.
READ MORE Parents cling to screaming kids 20ft in air as rollercoaster breaks down mid-ride
Kie Bridgeman, 34, from Droylsden, Manchester, had visited with three children and her partner for a day out in the sun. She first noticed the ride had grinded to a halt - but realised something was wrong when she returned from lunch and queued for other rides but saw people were still stranded.
"We noticed the ride had stopped and they were stuck on an angle. I kept looking to check if they were still there. We went on three other rides, and they had quite long queues, and went for lunch, and we came back and they were still stuck there.
"I said to my partner, 'Oh my god, they are still stuck there'. By the time we came back, the fire brigade were there helping people down and there were ambulances too.
"They must have been so scared and traumatised. If it was my child, who has ADHD, she would've had a meltdown and a panic attack. They were stuck there for ages. I can't imagine what the parents felt like being stuck with their kids, it must've been so scary with it on its side."
Kie said she had spent around 30 minutes queuing up for their tickets and that the park was busy with families and young children. She said other rides had also closed down around the same time. Southport Pleasureland has confirmed that 'one or two' rides were 'off for a short while' as maintenance staff attended the rollercoaster.
"There are only so many rides kids of a certain age or height can go on, so that one had stopped and then there were two others closed at the same time."
In a statement issued today, a Southport Pleasureland spokesperson said: “We are sorry for the distress caused to passengers on one of our coasters yesterday. Our immediate priority was looking after everyone’s safe removal from the ride.
"Senior management and maintenance team members are today continuing a thorough investigation into carriages stopping on the park’s Rocket Coaster yesterday morning. All routine maintenance checks had been carried out, as they are on all rides each morning, before the ride went into commission.
"The ride did exactly what its safety settings are programmed to do and stopped on detecting a fault. It was the first run of the day and the ride, which has a 22-person capacity, was loaded with 19 riders.
"No one was at any risk of falling from the ride, the carriages were secure on the track and the park’s operations director immediately made his way up the gantry to speak to riders and explain that they would be brought off the ride safely, as part of the park’s instant response safety process.
"At the same time the maintenance crew was further immobilising carriages to ensure passengers’ safe exit from the ride via one of the park’s cherry pickers. An ambulance and the fire brigade were called immediately, both standard emergency-response practice.
"A young girl who had lost consciousness was the team’s priority, and checked by ambulance paramedics. That first-response healthcare team was available to other passengers.
"On seeing how the park was handling the situation and safely retrieving passengers, the fire brigade commended the team, took no action and left the scene. As a consequence of calling maintenance staff to attend the coaster, one or two of the other rides were off for a very short while during the day.
"This is because the systems require reset buttons to be pressed – something that is maintenance’s responsibility. This represented a very short disruption.
“Our priority is always safety and our team checks and maintains rides, and trains to keep emergency procedures front of mind, should they be needed, so they are delivered fast and effectively. Once again we apologise to our passengers.”
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