Roller Coaster at Canada's Amusement Park Stops Upside Down for 30 Minutes
It was bad enough for visitors at a Canadian amusement park. The roller coaster they were riding stopped when the passenger seat was pointing down.
Reporting from NPR on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, the incident took place at Canada's Wonderland Amusement Park. The 22-meter-high ride suddenly stopped upside down.
This roller coaster has a lumberjack shape with two axe-shaped sides. Visitors sit on the axe and swing back and forth. The 360-degree movement is the most adrenaline-testing.
The ride stopped at 22:40 local time. The amusement park attendant tried to calm the passengers of the ride. He asked the visitor's condition over the loudspeaker.
"Is everyone okay?" asked the officer
"No!" replied the visitors simultaneously.
This incident made all the amusement park visitors crowd in the ride area. Visitors who were already hanging upside down panicked, they cried and shouted for help.
It is unclear how many visitors were trapped on the ride, but the capacity of the roller coaster is only 48 seats. Some passengers sat facing each other.
"This design allows guests to interact with each other and watch the terror on their friends' faces as they spin around," writes Wonderland's website.
This description feels very real when the ride comes to a halt. A visitor who couldn't stand it ended up vomiting upside down. Other guests panicked and became hysterical.
After 30 minutes, the ride's passengers were finally evacuated.
Two people were treated for chest pain while hanging upside down.
The Wonderland spokesperson did not reveal the cause of the sudden stoppage.
They only said the maintenance team was quickly deployed.
