Teenager fighting for her life after being hurled from theme park ride in horror video
A 19-year-old girl is fighting for her life in hospital after plummeting from a fast spinning theme park ride and crashing into concrete.
Horror video footage caught the moment she was flung from the high-momentum pendulum ride onto hard paving stones and lay motionless in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan. The teenager was thrown out feet down but landed on her front, with reports claiming seat belts had snapped on the ride – known locally as The Bench.
Fellow thrill-seekers were still spinning upside down as the girl was flung onto the ground. She was conscious in the aftermath of her fall as rescuers ran to her after the ride was halted, according to witnesses. “She was speaking in the Uzbek language, crying and saying something,” said a witness. “She fell face down on the ground with great force — her nose and teeth were broken and there was a lot of blood.”
The victim is now in intensive care with multiple head, chest and abdominal injuries. “Her condition remains serious,” said the city’s central clinical hospital. “The victim is in the intensive care unit.” Reports say two seat belts snapped on the ride in the city’s Panfilov Park. Police and safety inspectors are examining the ride with a criminal case expected into the horror. The park has repeatedly assured thrill-seekers that The Bench ride is “safe”.
It comes just weeks after a 13-year-old girl fell from a spinning fairground ride in Mexico after the safety bar wasn’t properly secured. The youngster was flung from the ride and suffered a hip injury, with a mum and her young son also clinging for their lives when the safety bar failed. An onlooker filmed the attraction going round and round with around a dozen thrillseekers in its carriages.
A loud banging sound was heard in the terrifying footage before the teenager was seen lying awkwardly on the platform, slumped to the ground in pain as a worker approached to help. The accident took place at the Cozumel Fair, which is held at Quintana Roo Park, south of Cancun in Mexico, on February 23.
A Civil Protection spokesperson said: “Our directorate in Cozumel acted decisively by closing down a ride at the local fair after a minor suffered a fall while it was in operation. The accident resulted in injuries to the minor, who was taken to the hospital by her parents for medical treatment. Civil Protection personnel immediately went to the site, conducted a thorough inspection and decided to close the fairground ride. In addition, an administrative process was initiated against those responsible and a fine was issued.
“We will not tolerate negligence that endangers the lives of fair visitors and we require operators to strictly follow the safety rules.”
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