AMARILLO, Texas—Firefighters had to rescue a dozen schoolchildren after their train of roller coaster cars stalled at a Texas Panhandle amusement park.
An Amarillo Fire Department statement says the train of cars became stuck at the top of the Mouse Trap roller coaster at Wonderland Park in Amarillo about 11 a.m. on Tuesday, May 21.
“Park officials said they think the ride had an issue because of wind and temperatures at the park, but the 35-year-old ride worked as expected, and stopped when magnetism was indicated on the rails,” KVII reported.
#BREAKING: Amarillo Fire crews are working to rescue children from a stuck roller coaster at Wonderland Amusement Park.https://t.co/VCoupQzKzc
— ABC 7 Amarillo (@ABC7Amarillo) May 21, 2019
“Despite some sort of mechanical malfunction in the ride, the safety mechanisms in place held the train locked in place so that firefighters and Wonderland staff could retrieve the children from the ride,” ABC7 reported.
A video on Twitter obtained by ABC7 shows the Amarillo Fire Department crew working to get the stuck cars down the track.
Thanks to Phil Wells for sending us this video of the rescue at Wonderland this morning! pic.twitter.com/ChgPkikhIy
— ABC 7 Amarillo (@ABC7Amarillo) May 21, 2019
The rescue crews used a cherry picker and pushed the carts manually down the track.
No injuries have been reported and all the students were brought down to safety.
Huge Roller Coaster Gets Stuck in Oklahoma
Guests on Frontier City’s Silver Bullet roller coaster faced a painful delay at the top of the ride after a technical glitch brought their carts to a halt.
This video captured by witness Brittany Marie Harrell and later released by ABC on Twitter shows the moment the Silver Bullet ride stalls at the Oklahoma City theme park.
Riders on Frontier City’s Silver Bullet roller coaster faced a nail-biting delay at the top of the ride due to a “power interruption.” Thankfully, the ride resumed shortly after. https://t.co/jGpnzaSX2Z pic.twitter.com/U4rPx0Ugpm
— ABC News (@ABC) May 14, 2018
The ride eventually continued after a 10-minute delay, KOCO News 5 reported. The ride originally ground to a halt due to a power interruption, the local news station reported.
According to the Frontier City website, the Silver Bullet ride is “like being shot from a cannon as you rocket through this high-speed steel looping coaster.”
The Silver Bullet ride had has problems in the past.
Roller Coaster Derailed in Florida
A roller coaster derailed at the boardwalk in Daytona Beach, Florida, leaving six riders injured, according to reports.
A total of 10 riders were rescued from the ride, according to a tweet from the Daytona Beach Fire Department. The extent of the riders’ injuries was not immediately known, NBC News reported.
“It looked like it just flipped upside down, like it was part of the ride,” said Paige Ailor, a witness, according to NBC. The incident took place at the Mardi Gras Fun Center, an amusement park on the Daytona Beach boardwalk.
Firefighters spent about an hour rescuing the riders from the roller coaster, NBC reported.
DB Firefighters working as fast as they can to rescue 2 riders that are in a dangling rollercoaster car pic.twitter.com/v0UrChJdHC
— DaytonaBeachFireDept (@DaytonaBeachFD) June 15, 2018
Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips, The Associated Press, and NTD News staff contributed to this article.
