Parks Close Thrill Rides After Girl Loses Legs USA Today Publish: June 22, 2007 Six Flags and another company shut down eight more thrill rides Friday around the country after a teenage girl had her feet chopped off at the ankle on a Superman Tower of Power. State inspectors, meanwhile, returned to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom where the accident happened to examine the ride, which lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops them nearly the same distance at speeds reaching 54 mph. WIt was unclear at what point during the ride the 13-year-old was injured Thursday, said Wendy Goldberg, a Six Flags spokeswoman. The girl was taken to a hospital. She was not identified and details of her condition were not immediately available Friday. Six Flags has shut down similar rides at parks in St. Louis, Gurnee, Ill., and near Washington as a safety precaution, Goldberg said. Six Flags Over Texas, near Dallas, also has a Superman Tower of Power, but it is not the same ride, Goldberg said. There were no reports of injuries on the ride before Thursday, she said. "Millions of people have safely ridden this ride in our parks," Goldberg said. The accident led Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. to shut down and inspect drop tower rides at five of its amusement parks as a precaution, company spokeswoman Stacy Frole said. The five Cedar Fair rides that will be shut down are at Kings Island near Cincinnati; Canada's Wonderland, in Toronto; Kings Dominion in Doswell, Va.; Carowinds, in Charlotte; and Great America in Santa Clara, Calif. Read More… |
Park Visitor Dies After Riding Disney World Roller-coaster By JOHN RAOUX USA Today Published December 18, 2007 A 44-year-old man died Tuesday after riding a roller coaster at Walt Disney World that simulates a runaway train ride through the Himalayas, authorities said. Jeffery Reed, of Navarre, Fla., was pulled unresponsive from the ride, given CPR and pronounced dead at a hospital. He had no visible signs of injury, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said. Authorities are investigating whether Reed had a previous medical condition, said Jim Solomons, sheriff's spokesman. An autopsy is planned. Inspectors found that the ride, Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest, was working properly, but Disney kept it closed during further review. "We offer the family our deepest sympathies and will provide assistance to them during this difficult time," Disney said in a written statement. The ride, Expedition Everest, made its debut in 2006 and features an 80-foot drop. Before Tuesday's death, at least 15 people had died at Disney's theme parks in Florida and California since 1989, some with previous health conditions. Read More… |
Security forces sent to India state, blast toll 43 Reuters Published: Aug 26, 2007 Officials sent extra police and special bomb detection equipment to an Indian state after bombs packed with metal pellets killed 43 people at a packed street food-stall and an amusement park. Police have found another dozen bombs -- fitted with timers and placed in plastic bags -- at bus stops, cinema halls, road junctions and pedestrian bridges across Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh state, after Saturday night's blasts in the city. "Definitely some terrorist organisation is behind these attacks, which wants to weaken our unity and peaceful co-existence," Junior Home Minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal said late on Saturday. Nearly 80 people, including women and children, were wounded by the three blasts that went off within the space of a few minutes. Some of the wounded were in critical condition. "The metal pellets in the bombs had worked as deadly missiles, killing more people," said Dr. K. Shastry, a senior doctor at a large hospital, which received many dead and wounded. The police said each of the bombs also contained ammonium and were rigged with alarm clocks. Eleven people died in two blasts at the Lumbini amusement park during a laser light show, while 32 died in the explosion at the street food stall in the heart of the city's commercial district, police said. Police were probing the role of Islamist militants, blamed for other recent bombings in different cities. Hyderabad is an information technology hub where foreign firms have made large investments."They had come to shop and had stopped for a bite. Now they are all gone," said Bhaskar, 41, a family friend of two teenage girls and a young woman, who died at the food stall. Outside the hospital, Hyderabad residents, including victims' families, shouted anti-government slogans. New Delhi has often blamed Pakistan-based Islamist militant groups for attacks in India. Indian officials say Pakistan needs to do more to curb the groups based in its territory. Read More… |
Fire Destroys Sea-Front Arcade BBC News Published: April 4, 2003 A huge fire has swept through two amusement arcades on Margate seafront. Firefighters were called to the incident at Mr G's amusement arcade, in Marine Terrace, at 0644 BST on Friday. Nobody was hurt in the fire, but the arcade building was destroyed. The flames spread to another amusement arcade next door and other neighboring buildings. The fire is being seen as a major blow for the resort as the summer season approaches. 'It's completely gone.' The fire was on a busy seafront road, less than 50 yards from Margate's Dreamland theme park. The four-storey building, in an Edwardian terrace, collapsed within an hour of firefighters being called out. A gaping hole now stands in the terrace, where the destroyed building previously stood. Radio Kent reporter Graham Cooke, who was at the scene, said: "It's completely gone - all there is is a pile of smouldering debris which used to be an amusement arcade." The fire was on a busy seafront road, less than 50 yards from Margate's Dreamland theme park. The four-storey building, in an Edwardian terrace, collapsed within an hour of firefighters being called out. A gaping hole now stands in the terrace, where the destroyed building previously stood. Radio Kent reporter Graham Cooke, who was at the scene, said: "It's completely gone - all there is is a pile of smouldering debris which used to be an amusement arcade." Kent Fire Brigade sent about 120 firefighters to tackle the flames. Homes near the seafront were evacuated and roads around the scene closed off while the fire was dealt with, bringing much of the town to a standstill. "It's obviously going to affect us and the seafront for Easter, being just a few days away, and we were obviously getting ready for the summer season. Fire investigators have begun the process of trying to establish how the fire began. Paul Lukehurst from Kent Fire Brigade said: "It really is too early to come up with any conclusions. Read More… |
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