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Incidents at European amusement parks

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This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at various European amusement parks, water parks, or theme parks. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park operations, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy.

The term incidents refers to major accidents, injuries, or deaths that occur at a European park. While these incidents were required to be reported to regulatory authorities due to where they occurred, they usually fall into one of the following categories:

  • Caused by negligence on the part of the guest. This can be refusal to follow specific ride safety instructions, or deliberate intent to break park rules.
  • The result of a guest's known or unknown health issues.
  • Negligence on the part of the park, either by ride operator or maintenance.
  • Act of God or a generic accident (e.g. slipping and falling), that is not a direct result of an action on anybody's part.

Alton Towers

Main article: Alton Towers

Corkscrew

Main article: Corkscrew (Alton Towers)
  • On June 24, 2001, 28 people were trapped for 90 minutes when the ride failed to complete its circuit. This was the second time the ride failed, the first being in 1997.[1]

Rita - Queen of Speed

Main article: Rita - Queen of Speed
  • In June 2005, a 12-year-old girl had both her wrists broken by the force of the 60 mph ride.[2]

Runaway Mine Train

Main article: Runaway Mine Train (Alton Towers)
  • On July 20, 2006, six people were taken to hospital and 23 others treated for cuts and bruises following an accident on the Runaway Mine Train.[3]

Sky Ride

  • On June 29, 2004, the Sky Ride cable cars abruptly stopped due to a jam. About 80 people were on the ride, and nine people had to be rescued.[4]

Brighton Pier

Main article: Brighton Pier

Turbo Coaster

  • In December 2002, eight riders were allowed to ride the coaster despite the fact that a 16 ft section of track had been removed for maintenance. The ride operator stopped the train just before it hit the missing section. In 2004, Brighton Pier was fined £37,000 for failing to ensure people's safety.[5]

Camelot

Main article: Camelot Theme Park

The Gauntlet

  • On October 22, 2001, a 59-year-old employee was killed as he was struck by a train when he was performing maintenance on the ride. Prime Resorts Limited was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 costs, after a court decided the death was caused by fundamental management errors.[6]

Cambridgeshire Raceway

  • On December 10, 2009, a teenage girl was strangled after her scarf got tangled in the cars engine. The 18 year old was rushed to hospital but died the next day.

Company Secretary Phil Meakins said the accident happened after hours when a member of staff let friends onto the track: "We have such strict safety restrictions - this should never have happened. All drivers have to wear race suits and helmets and they certainly wouldn't have been allowed to drive wearing a scarf - you can't even wear facial jewellery on the track. There are no excuses whatsoever."[7]

Chessington World Of Adventure

Main article: Chessington World of Adventures

Rameses Revenge

Main article: Rameses Revenge
  • On July 23, 2001, 40 guests were trapped upside down on the ride when it suddenly stopped due to a technical hitch. After a couple of seconds the safety system kicked in lowering them to the ground. It took 20 minutes to release them. Emergencies services tended to 6 people for asthma/panic attacks, although no one was seriously injured.[8]

Disneyland Paris

Main article: Disneyland Paris

Walt Disney Studios Park

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster

  • On June 26, 2007, a 14-year-old girl lost consciousness on the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Though paramedics attempted to revive her, she died before the ambulance arrived. A ride inspection showed no mechanical problems.

2006 mouse orgy incident

  • In October 2006, amateur video was filmed showing Disney employees backstage, pantomiming various indecent acts while they were wearing their characters costumes. The video clip was later posted on various video-sharing websites,often using the term mouse orgy. In a official statement, Disney said The video was taking in the backstage area not accesible to guests. Appropiate action has been taken to deal with the cast members involved.

Fantasy Island

Main article: Fantasy Island UK
  • On October 18, 2002, a 22-year-old ride operator broke his leg when a bungee ride malfunctioned. The employee was demonstrating the ride when the ankle restraints holding him in place snapped.[9]

Flamingo Land

Main article: Flamingo Land Resort

Magnum Force

  • On June 1, 2004, a 32-year-old employee was injured by the Magnum Force roller coaster, allegedly due to him crossing through a restricted area under the coaster as a shortcut through the park.[10]

Mumbo Jumbo

  • On May 3rd, 2010, one of the carts got stuck midway through the ride due to a poncho blowing onto the tracks. Two female passengers were trapped upside down for 20 minutes before being safely removed from the ride by park attendants.[11][12]

Gray's Amusement Park

  • On June 2, 2000, a 12 year old boy died as a result of injuries sustained at Gray's Amusement Park in Ingoldmells near Skegness. He was hit in the chest by a manual swing, known as The Swinging Gym. The inicident was described as a tragic accident.[13]

Gulliver's Land

Main article: Gulliver's Land
  • On May 17, 2006, a 56-year-old park employee was performing safety checks on the train when he was beheaded by an oncoming train.[14]

Gulliver's World

Main article: Gulliver's World

Ferris Wheel

  • On July 13, 2002, a 15 year old girl fell 30 feet from a ferris wheel. She was taken to hospital, and died two days later from her injuries.[15] The park were fined £70,000 for failing to ensure a persons safety, and £10,000 for not carrying out risk assessments.[16]

Guillena Zoo

Flying Swinger

  • Eighteen people were injured when a Flying Swinger ride collapsed at Guillena Zoo in Seville, Spain. The accident happened on April 9, 2005. Of the 18 injured, fifteen were children. Four people were seriously injured, including an 11 year-old girl and a woman, who were airlifted to Sevilla City Centre Hospital, after sustaining serious head and leg injuries. Witnesses said that the attraction's main support snapped in two, trapping victms under the debris. The ride, built in 2001, had just passed all of its required safety inspections.[17]

Holiday Parks

Main article: Holiday Park, Germany

Expedition GeForce

  • On April 29, 2010, the Intamin coaster Expedition GeForce stopped 65-foot in the air when the first car derailed after completing the cars first drop. No one was seriously injured however all 26 riders had to be evacuated. It was reported a broken axle caused the accident. [18]

Legoland Billund

Main article: Legoland Billund

The Xtreme Racer

  • On April 29, 2007, a 21-year-old park employee was killed by a ride vehicle on The Xtreme Racer, a roller coaster at the Billund, Denmark park, as she climbed over a security fence to retrieve a guest's wallet.[19]

Lego Tower Accident

  • In August 2008 a 10 foot lego collasped, on top of a visitor. the visitor was injured and sued the park as a result. The matter was settled in court and the visitor has since fully recovered

Lightwater Valley

Main article: Lightwater Valley

Treetop Twister

  • On June 21, 2001, a 20-year-old woman died while on the ride.[20] Police decided not to prosecute a maintenance worker, who claimed that he had only received an hour's training on that ride and had not seen its manual.[21] Faulty wiring had also caused a malfunction on the ride.[22] In October 2004, the deputy coroner ruled death by misadventure. On November 14, 2006, the park was charged with failing to ensure the health and safety of riders, and the ride operator was charged with failing to ensure safety through his work. Both pleaded guilty.[23] The ride manufacturer, Reverchon Industries SA, was convicted of two charges of failing to ensure the ride's safe design and construction.[24]

Liseberg

Main article: Liseberg
  • In 1985, two empty rollercoaster trains collided at Liseberg, causing injuries to staff members.[25]
  • In 2005, a power failure affected western Sweden, causing all the attractions at Liseberg to stop, leaving people stranded in various positions but causing no injuries.[25]

Flagpole Accident

  • On September 2, 2006, a man received injuries to his head and neck after being hit when a flagpole fell down.[25][26]

Lisebergbanan

Main article: Lisebergbanan
  • On July 15, 2006, 21 people were injured at Liseberg when two roller coaster trains, on the rollercoaster Lisebergbanan, collided. The crash happened when the chain that pulls trains up the initial climb malfunctioned, causing a fully loaded train to roll backward into the loading platform, hitting another train that was unloading riders. Since only part of the train was on the lift, the anti-rollback mechanism had not fully engaged and broke. The steel rollercoaster was built in 1987 and is one of Sweden's largest, reaching speeds up to 80 km/h.[27] Since the accident the rollercoaster has opened again, after a technical adjustment.

Flumeride

  • On October 8, 2006, a woman in her thirties was seriously injured on the log boat ride "Flumeride". At the second and final drop, a 14 metre slope, the woman apparently panicked, and tried to keep the log boat from travelling down the slope by holding on to the railings. She was ejected from the boat into the water and slid down the slope, where she was hit in the head by at least one of the two following log boats. Since she had managed to temporarily keep the log boat from dropping down the slope, the following two log boats passed the last safety gate, and couldn't be stopped from falling down the last slope where the woman was located. The event was witnessed by the staff who stopped the ride, but were unable to prevent two of the log boats from continuing. The woman, who was travelling together with her 11-year-old daughter and another woman, was taken to Sahlgrenska University Hospital, where she was reported to be in critical but stable condition. An investigation has been initiated by the authorities, and Liseberg has also initiated an internal inquiry.[26][28][29] She eventually recovered fully.

Rainbow

Rainbow collapsed, picture taken by Arvin Jazaee, Swedish time 18:15 2008-07-15
  • On July 15, 2008, 30 people were injured when the ride collapsed. The park manager stated that he believes a ball bearing on the ride failed.[30] The ride was dismantled on July 19, 2008. Investigators then confirmed on July 17, 2008 that they had discovered a faulty drive shaft during their inspection. They believed that one of the axles that is designed to hold the passenger carriage horizontal failed. The drive shaft had been replaced by Huss Maschinefabrik, the rides manufacturer in 2003.[31]

Hangover

  • In 1997, 25 young people were trapped for three hours when the ride "Hangover" at Liseberg malfunctioned.[25]

Kållerado

  • In 2001, a 14-year old boy was pinned between a raft and a landing on the ride "Kållerado" at Liseberg.[25]

Little Frogs

  • In 2002, six small children received minor injuries when a safety latch fails on the attraction "the little frogs" (Template:Lang-sv) at Liseberg.[25]

Loudoun Castle

Main article: Loudoun Castle

Rat

  • On July 16, 2007, an 18 year old park worker died after falling 80 ft from the Rat ride at the Scottish Park. He was on a day off on July 15, 2007 when it is believed he saw one of the carriages stuck on the ride. He climbed up to attempt to fix the ride, however when it started to move he was dragged to the highest point, when he lost his grip and fell.

The park voluntarily closed the ride even after it passed inspection.[32]

Mirabilandia

Main article: Mirabilandia

Katun

  • In 2007, a man was killed at the Mirabilandia theme park in Ravenna, Italy, when he was hit in the head by the leg of a female rider on the Katun inverted coaster. The girl whose leg struck the man was injured. The man was in a restricted area when he was struck, however the ride was still closed so officials could investigate.[33]

Phantasialand Pleasure Park

Main article: Phantasialand
  • On May 1, 2001, a fire broke out at the Phantasialand theme park in Bruehl, near Cologne, Germany. 54 people were injured during the fire, however no one was seriously hurt. The fire broke out on the mostly wooden rollercoaster on a day when the park was filled with 20,000 visitors. The park's founder said a cable fire in one of the rollercoaster cars was most likely the cause of the blaze. There were 150 passengers on the ride when the fire broke out, however they were able to exit the cars using a 60 foot ladder.[34]

Pleasure Beach Blackpool

Main article: Pleasure Beach Blackpool

Pepsi Max Big One

Main article: Pepsi Max Big One
  • On August 31, 2000, 23 people were injured, when two ride vehicles collided due to a failure of the ride's braking system. Of those injured, 21 were taken to the hospital.[35]

Space Invader

  • On July 21, 2000, an 11-year-old boy died after he fell out of the ride vehicle. Reports say that he panicked on the dark ride and unfastened his seatbelt.[36]

The Big Dipper

Main article: Big Dipper (Blackpool)
  • On August 11, 2009, two trains - carrying a total of 32 guests - collided, resulting in 21 guests requiring treatment at a nearby hospital for injuries ranging from whiplash and broken noses, to cuts and bruises.[37]

Parc Astérix

Main article: Parc Astérix

Accidental drowning

  • On July 5, 2006, a 6-year-old Belgian boy drowned as he was dragged underwater by the current.[38][39][40][41]

PortAventura

Main article: PortAventura

Tornado

  • On May 18, 2009, a 55-year-old park employee died after being run over by a coaster train as he was performing maintenance.[42]

Pleasureland Southport

Main article: Pleasureland Southport

Sky Ride

  • In April 2004, four guests were stranded on the ride due to an electrical fault.[43]
  • On August 25, 2004, a 59-year-old employee was killed after he became trapped on a cable car as he was performing maintenance on the ride.[43] The park was fined £95,000 for breaching health & safety laws, and were also ordered to pay £50,000 in costs[citation needed].

Prater

Main article: Prater

Extasy

  • On April 5, 2010, a Vienna man died after trying to jump on to a high-speed carousel ride at Vienna's Prater amusement park. The 34 year old was drunk when he attempted to get back on the ride after it had started by hurling himself at the spinning carousel. He died soon after from the multiple injuries. [44]

Oakwood Theme Park

Main article: Oakwood Theme Park

Hydro

  • On April 16, 2004, a 16-year-old girl from Pontypool, was killed after falling approximately 30 m (100 ft) from the top of the Hydro ride.[45] During a trial brought by the victim's family against Oakwood, a jury returned a narrative verdict stating that the victim died due to not being properly restrained.[46] In February 2008, Oakwood was charged by the Health and Safety Executive for park staff not ensuring that guests were properly and safely restrained.[47] On May 22, 2008, magistrates in Haverfordwest magistrates court rejected Oakwood Leisure Limited's request for an adjournment and directed that the hearing should proceed on the assumption of a not guilty plea. The magistrates declined jurisdiction and adjourned the case which was committed for crown court trial in Swansea Crown Court on July 7, 2008.[48] The magistrates' court was limited to fining the company £20,000, the crown court can impose an unlimited fine.[49] On July 8, 2008, Oakwood plead guilty under the Health and Safety Act 1974 for failing to conduct its business such to ensure that its guests were not exposed to risks, and will face sentencing.[50]

Rotunda Amusement Park

Mini-Dragon

  • On September 11, 1999, an 8-year-old girl died one day after falling from the coaster and hitting her head on a steel support. On February 19, 2003, Dreamland Leisure was found guilty of negligence in ensuring guest safety. The company were fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £15,000 in compensation to the victim's mother.[51]

Thorpe Park

Main article: Thorpe Park

Zodiac Enterprise

  • In September 2001, two teenagers were left dangling from a gondola on the Zodiac Enterprise ride. The two pupils from an East Sussex school, Gemma Clark and Scott Reeves were on the ride when a support holding the gondola snapped, leaving it hanging by a single support. When the operator tried to halt the ride, the gondola repeatedly hit decking at the bottom before coming to a stop. Minor injuries were sustained. In 2004, Tussauds Theme Park, owner of Thorpe Park, were fined £650,000.[52]

Mr Rabbit's Tropical Travels

  • On July 21, 2000, seven thousand people were evacuated from the park after Mr Rabbit's Tropical Travels boat ride caught on fire. The fire was allegedly started by a stray cigarette butt. A number of other attractions were also damaged.[53][54]

Rush

Main article: Rush (Thorpe Park)
  • On May 29, 2008, a 4 ft piece of metal fell off the "Rush ride" and fell 100 feet.[55]

Tivoli Friheden

Main article: Tivoli Friheden

Cobra

  • On July 4, 2008, four unidentified people were injured while riding the Cobra coaster. The ride vehicle broke in two, with the front part of the train falling to the ground.[56]

Tranmore Amusement Park

  • On August 26, 2006, 22-year-old died in an accident after falling out of a ghost train car and being run over by a second train.[57]

Wonderland Pleasure Park

Astroslide

  • On September 5, 2004, a seven-year-old girl died after sustaining severe head injuries after falling to the ground while exiting the ride.[58]

Wicksteed Park

Main article: Wicksteed Park

Mini Railway

  • On September 7, 2003, two people were injured when the ride derailed.[59]

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  52. ^ Template:Cite ref
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