Girl rushed to hospital with head injury after rollercoaster horror

Young girl rushed to hospital with head injury after rollercoaster horror in which terrified children were left dangling ’20ft in the air’ for ’90 minutes’ when ride suddenly stopped

• The child was unconscious but breathing when the ambulance service arrived
• Witnesses say children were dangling from the ride at Pleasureland, in Southport
• In total 19 people were removed from the broken-down ride with a Cherry Picker 

Terrified parents clung on to their screaming children for 90 minutes after a rollercoaster broke down 20ft in the air, with one child being rushed to the hospital with a head injury.

Horrified witnesses say young children were dangling from the ride at Pleasureland, in Southport, Merseyside on Saturday. 

A young girl was unconscious but breathing when the ambulance service and fire crew arrived to take her to Alder Hay Children’s Hospital, with her father being seen trying desperately to reach his daughter by witnesses.

In total 19 people were removed from the ride with a Cherry Picker by the theme park’s maintenance crew, which took an hour and a half to complete. 

A young girl was unconscious but breathing when the ambulance service and fire crew arrived to take her to Alder Hay Children’s Hospital

In total 19 people were removed from the ride with a Cherry Picker by the theme park’s maintenance crew, which took an hour and a half to complete

No other injuries have been reported, with 17 of the passengers being given precautionary check overs by paramedics after they were rescued. 

Michael Bowman, 57, who was visiting the park with his wife and eight-year-old son, told The Mirror: ‘We walked towards The Rocket and I thought something’s not right there. 

‘We looked up and said “oh my god, it’s stuck all the way round” You could see that it was on an angle and they were all leaning.

‘The parents had hold of the children because they were leaning out of the carriage on the bend.’   

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said: ‘A multi-agency meeting took place between North West Ambulance Service and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and the Health and Safety Executive was informed. 

‘The ride is to be isolated and a full inspection to be carried out.’ 

Pleasureland said: ‘We are sorry for the distress caused to passengers on one of our coasters yesterday. Our immediate priority was looking after everyone’s safe removal from the ride.

‘Senior management and maintenance team members are today continuing a thorough investigation into carriages stopping on the park’s Rocket Coaster yesterday morning. All routine maintenance checks had been carried out.

Pleasureland (pictured) said they were sorry for the distress caused to passengers, and the ride ‘did exactly what its safety settings are programmed to do and stopped on detecting a fault’ (file image)

‘The ride did exactly what its safety settings are programmed to do and stopped on detecting a fault.

‘No one was at any risk of falling from the ride, the carriages were secure on the track and the park’s operations director immediately made his way up the gantry to speak to riders and explain that they would be brought off the ride safely, as part of the park’s instant response safety process.

‘A young girl who had lost consciousness was the team’s priority, and immediately checked by ambulance paramedics. That first-response healthcare team was available to other passengers..

‘Our priority is always safety and our team checks and maintains rides, and trains to keep emergency procedures front of mind, should they be needed, so they are delivered fast and effectively. Once again we apologise to our passengers.’

Due to maintenance staff attending the broken down rollercoaster, other rides also had to close. 

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