Last Sunday, great drama unfolded at a festival in Wisconsin, USA.
The Fireball roller coaster got stuck upside down – and eight people were stuck for several hours.
– We have never experienced a similar situation, says Erica Kostichka at the rescue service after the operation.
Dramatic scenes unfolded during the Forest County Festival in Wisconsin, USA this weekend. On Sunday, Fireball, one of the festival’s roller coasters, got stuck upside down during a ride, US media reports.
The accident occurred at high altitude and due to a mechanical failure, according to the emergency services.
Eight people sat in the roller coaster’s carriages. The emergency services were quickly called to the scene but had to wait for a special ladder truck that could safely take down the people who were stuck upside down in the carriages.
Three hours up and down
On Tuesday, two days after the accident, the emergency services published a press release, according to CNN. In a statement, the rescue service states that it took approximately two hours before the first person could be rescued from the roller coaster.
The last person to be rescued had been stuck for over three hours after the ride stopped.
– We have never experienced a similar situation, says Erica Kostichka at the rescue service according to the channel.
A total of ten fire engines, nine ambulances and around 50 people participated in the rescue operation. Nine people were treated at the scene and one person was taken to hospital by ambulance.
The incident in Wisconsin occurred exactly one week after a roller coaster partially derailed at the Gröna Lund amusement park in Stockholm. One person died and several were seriously injured after the accident.