Two men have been arrested after a fairground ride “failed and crashed” plunging riders nearly 180ft to the ground at a Christmas market in Birmingham city centre.
The arrests come after two women were taken to hospital suffering injuries from the City Flyer ride, which dropped to ground level “whilst in operation” in Centenary Square at 7.30pm on Thursday.
West Midlands Police said on Friday two men, aged 55 and 21, were arrested at the scene on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and obstructing officers. Police said both men were in custody.
Thrillseekers screamed in terror as the 55m tall swing ride plummeted without warning causing 13 riders to be checked for injuries by medics.
People were seen in footage online desperately trying to get riders off tangled gondolas as electronic music pumped in the background.
In the footage, published by The Sun, one onlooker describes seeing the whole ride drop, adding they had seen one of the thrillseekers walking away from the ride with “blood on their face”.
Louise Brown, from Solihull, was on the ride and suffered a laceration to her face.
“This can never happen again - we are in shock and all I can think of is what if my kids were on the ride,” Ms Brown said, in comments reported by the BBC.
Ms Brown, who works for the public broadcaster in Birmingham, said she suffered injuries to her face, legs and arms, adding that her colleague was also hurt.
“We were on it having fun and then it just crashed to the ground,” she said.
“It went backwards first though, which I’ve never seen it do before.”
Did you see what happened on the ride? Email Barney.Davis.Ind@Independent.co.uk
Thirteen people were treated by West Midlands Ambulance Service with two taken to Midland Metropolitan University Hospital.
The ambulance service said the two women taken to hospital were not believed to have suffered serious injuries, while the remaining casualties were checked over and discharged at the fair.
John Spence, 45, from Warwick, was at the fairground with his family when he heard “screams of terror”.
He told MailOnlline: “We were near the ride when we heard screaming. It wasn’t your normal excited screams, this was screams of terror.
“There was a loud whoosh and bang and then pandemonium. There were lots of people in hi-vis jackets running over to help people get off the ride.
“Within a few minutes you could hear sirens. The emergency services were incredible and all so calm.
“We stayed out the way because we didn’t want to make the situation worse by crowding around.”
West Midlands Fire service said the fairground ride “had failed and crashed” adding: “The ride dropped to ground level whilst in operation.”
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “On arrival, crews found 13 patients.
“Two women, were treated by ambulance staff for injuries not believed to be serious and conveyed to Midland Metropolitan University Hospital.
“Nine women and two men were assessed by medics before being given self-care advice and discharged at the scene.”
Birmingham City Council said it was aware of the incident and that its thoughts were with the people who had been injured.
The Health and Safety Executive has also been informed.
Brian Hughes, chairman of Westside Business Improvement District (BID), said: “While we are relieved to have heard that no-one has received life-threatening injuries, this must have been a terrible incident to experience.”
He said Westside BID had spoken to the owners of Ice Skate Birmingham, which operates the ride.
“We know that they will now be working closely with the authorities to find out exactly what went wrong,” he said.
Police have asked anyone with CCTV or mobile phone footage which may assist the investigation to get in contact with them, quoting log 4290 of December 12.
