Riders on a roller coaster at a Wisconsin festival were stuck hanging upside for hours after a "mechanical failure" over the weekend.
NBC affiliate WJFW reports the roller coaster at the Forest County Festival abruptly stopped mid-ride on Sunday, leaving festivalgoers stuck for three hours.
Emergency responders rescued the passengers and they were taken to the hospital to be checked out.
“There is a mechanical failure with the ride where it became stuck in the upright position,” said Capt. Brennan Cook, Crandon Fire Department. “The ride was recently inspected by the state of Wisconsin here on site, and at this time we don’t have any other information.”
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Videos shared on social media show several people hanging from the stalled roller coaster as rescuers climbed the attraction to free them.
Sunday's incident at the Crandon International Off Road Raceway was the latest in a string of roller-coaster mishaps in recent days that serves as a reminder of the risks that sometimes arise with amusement park rides.
A roller coaster at Carowinds amusement park in North Carolina shut down last week after a visible crack in the support beam. Video footage of the popular Fury 325 — known as a “Giga coaster” due to its dramatic height of 325 feet— showed a key support beam bending with the top visibly detached as cars packed with unsuspecting passengers whirled by at speeds of up to 95 mph.
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The park, which straddles the North Carolina and South Carolina line, closed the ride late last week as questions swirled about how the crack occurred. Those answers remained largely unknown as state investigators were on site in Monday morning.
Last month, a roller coaster train derailed in Sweden sending some passengers plunging to the ground in an amusement park accident that left one dead and nine injured, police and park officials said.
Industry experts have been quick to counter that millions of Americans hop on roller coasters, Ferris wheels, water slides and many other rides without ever experiencing issues. They note injury rates are extremely low.
A 2021 survey compiled on behalf of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions found “0.9 injuries per million rides,” said Caitlin Dineen, the group's spokesperson. That year, more than 1,200 ride-related injuries were reported out of the typical 1.7 billion rides that take place each year across 400 locations in North America.
“Safety is the top priority for the global attractions industry,” Dineen said. “An excellent safety record is in the best interest of the industry, and leaders within it are committed to providing safe and secure attractions for all their guests and visitors.”
But sometimes deaths do occur on an amusement park ride.
In 2022, Orlando's International Drive district removed a towering 400-foot ride after it was directly linked to the death of 14-year-old Tyre Sampson — a Missouri teen who fell to his death while on the ride the year prior.
Sampson, who lived near St. Louis, Missouri, was visiting Orlando during spring break when he died.
An initial report from outside engineers hired by the Florida Department of Agriculture said sensors on the ride had been adjusted manually to double the size of the opening for restraints on two seats, resulting in the teen not being properly secured.
