Three dead after Xtrem Freak Out ride breaks apart in Spain

[Funderstruck]

(August 8, 2011) - In one of the deadliest carnival ride accidents in decades, three men were killed and a 16-year-old girl was seriously injured when a carnival ride broke apart in Toledo, Spain.
The ride, whose signs read "Xtrem" and "Freak Out," consists of a vertical arm that swings through the air like a pendulum. At the end of the arm, there are four rows of seats arranged in a circle, so that riders face each other. The gondola rotates as the arm swings through the air. One of the 4-passenger rows of seats broke off from the gondola and fell 30 feet to the ground, where it crashed near the entrance of the ride.

The men who died were 21, 23, and 31 years old. The girl was hospitalized in critical condition. Her injuries include a cranial fracture and facial injuries.

Witnesses reported that the ride had been making unusual noises. The ride is reported to have had proper permits and inspection certification. Authorities are investigating.

Most similar rides that use the same name and signage are not connected to this ride's manufacturer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... a1ZtHWgoWA

KMG released this statement:

Statement from KMG International:

This letter is to inform anyone whom it concerns about an accident that happened on a fair in the town of Villacanas in Spain. On August 9th, 2011 a terrible accident happened to a ride called Freakout where the passenger seating facility came off the ride causing three deaths a one severe injury.
Although the ride was called Freak Out and the outlines of the structure look likes the main structure of the KMG Freak Out, KMG states the following:

The ride involved in the above mentioned accident is not constructed by KMG and its construction is not related in any way to the design of the KMG Freak Out ride manufactured by KMG in The Netherlands. Therefore KMG Freak Out rides are not related to this accident.

We hope to have you informed sufficiently.

Kind regards,

Bas Derkink
Mechanical Engineer KMG

This is scary as the steel just snapped and it had all the required permits and inspections. Worrying thoughts as operators start looking to cheaper manufacturers of thrill rides to get a quicker return on investment. China have now moved from cheap crappy jumping castles to manufacturing these bigger mechanical rides and shipping them off all over the world so I'm sure we will see more of this in the future.

[Dazzleland]

Overloaded indeed!

[Top Gunner14]

How can it be overloaded mate? There's specifically 16 seats so it can't be overloaded. Whereas something like the accident on the Hurricane in Brazil that was overloaded with 6 people in the car, not 4.

Could this be a Funlight Extreme? I've seen that they do produce these types of rides and the quality is no where near as good as KMG's

[dell2006]

If it was overloaded, Were they sitting on another persons lap when the bars come down? 2 to a seat!

[dell2006]

Just like a motor bike! the back person must put there arms around the front person!