Girl, 15, killed in amusement ride collapse (Fabbri Pendulum Swing)
(July 17, 2010) - At Tibidabo amusement park in Barcelona, Spain, a catastrophic failure of an amusement ride left a 15-year-old girl dead, one person hospitalized in critical condition, and another in serious condition.
The ride, called El Pendulo (The Pendulum), consists of a giant vertical arm with a 4-passenger carriage attached to its end. The arm hoists the carriage to a height of 124 feet. When the arm is released, riders experience the sensation of freefall as the carriage drops through the air, swooping through a 150-foot arc at speeds of up to 60mph. The arm swings the carriage back and forth through the air, until it is slowed by gravity and finally the ride's braking system.
Witnesses said that the ride broke apart, and the passenger carriage crashed down onto an adjacent ride called the Golden Mine.
The park has been shut down while investigators examine the ride.
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Fair ride breaks apart; ten injured (Tivoli Scorpion)
(July 16, 2010) - At the Calgary Stampede, an annual fair and rodeo held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, ten people were injured when a fair ride called the Scorpion broke apart.
The ride consists of three arms. At the end of each arm is a wheel-like structure that carries 8 cars. As the arms whirl, they tilt the wheels of cars up into the air, as the wheels spin and the cars swing. One of the wheels broke off its arm, fell off the ride platform, and crashed into a barrier. Some cars flipped over and fell to the platform where the whirling cars that were still attached to the the ride crashed into them.
Witnesses said that at least three of the ride's cars were seriously damaged, and that the injured riders were either ejected or struck by other cars.
Four riders were treated at the scene and released while six were rushed to area hospitals with more serious injuries, but none that were life-threatening.
The ride is operated by North American Midway Entertainment. It passed a safety inspection just hours before it broke apart.
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Fair worker killed (Miami)
(July 17, 2010) - A fair worker was struck by an amusement ride called Body Shake during a test run and later died from his injuries. The accident happened at the Zwarte Cross fair at Lichtenvoorde, in the Netherlands.
