Fairground fun quickly turned sour when passengers of a Ferris wheel were left to fend for themselves as they were dangling in the air after the ride suddenly snapped
Passengers on a busy fairground ride were left terrified after the machine tipped onto its side – leaving them dangling in the air/.
The hook used to support the ride, which was manually operated, suddenly snapped, sending the giant wheel reeling sideways in Madhya Pradesh, India. The drama unfolded just yesterday, September 28, at what should have been a fun day out for families.
Screams filled the busy fun fair as the ride leaned to one side in a dangerous turn of events. Police were quick to rush over in an attempt to help stranded passengers clamber down from the broken ride.
Despite the high risks of the situation, fortunately, no passengers were injured, and everyone on board was rescued and taken to safety. As a result of the dramatic events, the ride has since been pulled from the fairground.
It has since been confirmed by police that the malfunction was caused by a broken hook, explaining that the ride was not motorised. They did not, however, confirm if the necessary safety checks were carried out prior to the opening of the fair this year.
Since the shocking accident, locals are demanding for tighter inspections of fairground rides to take place. Following the scare, authorities are now expected to take a further look at the safety protocols moving forward.
This comes just a month after a woman was left hanging out of a Ferris wheel carriage in Brazil, in what she thought could be her final moments. The passenger was attending a carnival in Mandirituba, southern Brazil, before her body slipped through the safety gate.
Horrified attendees of the event watched on in fear as the wheel appeared to do an entire rotation before the woman was able to reach the ground. Onlookers could hear her calling: “Help, I’m going to die! I’m going to fall!”
After the near-fatal accident, Mandirituba City Hall released a statement to say: “The technical team immediately identified the situation and operated the equipment so that the cabin slowly lowered to the ground, allowing the passenger to be safely removed.”
It’s thought that the woman had opened the cabin’s safety barrier in an attempt to get out of the carriage, as she thought the ride was over. In spite of having put her life at risk in a dangerous scenario, the woman was believed to have declined any medical attention and fled the scene, unharmed but unsurprisingly shaken up.