Scotland - Eight children and two adults were hurt in a horror crash on Sunday when a rollercoaster derailed and fell 20ft (about 6 metres) onto a toddlers’ ride.
Three youngsters were in a serious condition on Sunday night, and police confirmed that two of those hurt had been standing under the ride.
Visitors rushed to help those stuck in harnesses on the Tsunami rollercoaster – which reaches 65km/h – after a carriage went off the tracks at 3.40pm at M&D’s theme park in Motherwell, Scotland.
Witnesses said it flew off the track at full speed and shot through a fence before hitting a concrete play area where toddlers drive toy cars.
Roselyn Rodger, 49, from Motherwell, said it suddenly “dropped like a bomb”.
The mother-of-six said: “I turned my head, I saw it derail and flip. And all I could see was it flipped and banged and crushed everything upside down on the ground.
“Everyone was running in different directions and kids were screaming. It just shouldn’t have happened. Not in this day and age. The carriage only narrowly missed a little kid who was riding a bike.”
The crash was on the first weekend of the Scottish school holidays and the park, which has 750 000 visitors a year, was busy.
James Millerick, who had been queuing for another ride, said he heard “shrieks”.
He told Sky News: “There were maybe seven or eight individuals, mostly of younger age between maybe 10 and 15 years old that were actually trapped inside the rollercoaster lying on the ground.
“The harnesses were still on as well so there was absolutely no movement.”
Six ambulances were called and the park was evacuated.
Gavin McNally, said the scene was “carnage”, and it would “be a miracle if there are no fatalities”.
Katie Burns said: “Honestly never been so scared in my life. It’s like something out a horror film, children crying and everything.”
On Sunday night one relative, who asked not to be named, was waiting for news of her 11-year-old grandson Liam Boyle, who had been taken to hospital in Glasgow.
She said: “We got a call from a lady who was with Liam, she said that she’d stay with him and that he was going to be fine. We just panicked. Then we got two calls from the police, the first was wrong and they told us that he was getting help breathing, but we found out that this was another boy who was taken away by helicopter.
“Liam was taken in an ambulance, his dad John was stopping ambulances and managed to get the right one Liam was in so he went with him to the hospital.
“We don’t know if he was on the ride, or has maybe been underneath and hit. We were crying and just in shock. It was just a group of young boys, I’m praying they’re all OK.”
A spokesman for M&D’s said the theme park was closed until further notice.
The Tsunami ride – which has a loop-the-loop and corkscrew – also malfunctioned in 2011, with nine people trapped in the air for eight hours.
Children under 10 are restricted from riding and a minimum height restriction of 1.4m applies.
Chief Inspector David Bruce said: “Police received numerous 999 calls shortly around 3.49pm.
“On arrival it became clear that a series of five gondolas connected on a train on the Tsunami ride have detached from the rails, struck the superstructure and then struck the ground. They fell less than 20ft.
“As a result of this accident 10 people have been injured, two adults and eight children. I understand that there were nine people on the rollercoaster and two of the casualties were on the ground.”
He said some of the injuries “may be serious”.
Daily Mail