Amusement park guests feared for their lives after a park ride malfunctioned, leaving them dangling upside down.
As per KGW8, the AtmosFEAR ride at Oaks Park in Portland, Oregon, malfunctioned at 2:55pm local time on Friday (14 June).
The park initiated its emergency procedures and called 911, as 28 riders were left stranded with their legs facing the sky.
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Thankfully, the incident did not drag on for too long, with Portland Fire and Rescue (PF&R) saying all riders were manually evacuated by 3:25pm.
"Portland Fire is en route to Oaks Park for a ride that is stuck, with multiple riders. At this point there are no indications of injury. There is a PIO en route and we will update information until they arrive on, as needed," the fire service wrote on X.
"Portland Fire is working with park engineers to manually lower the ride, if possible, and are also preparing the high angle rope rescue team to affect rescues with the ride stuck, as is, if they are unable to manually lower the ride."
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Once all riders were rescued from the malfunctioning ride, they were medically evaluated.
"One rider with pre-existing medical conditions was transported to the hospital for further evaluation, out of an abundance of caution," Oaks Park said.
Despite only being stuck for a period of 30 minutes, riders spoke on how the unfortunate ordeal felt like hours.
Teens Daniel Allen and Jordan Harding were at the theme park celebrating their high school graduation.
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They decided AtmosFEAR would be their first ride of the day, but it did not exactly go to plan.
Allen told KGW8: "I was excited to go on. When you get stuck up there, I don't think you're so excited anymore."
The ride is a a black-and-blue pendulum that swings from side to side and is intended to stop upside down.
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But this is only meant to happen for a short period of time before swinging back into its resting position.
PF&R said in a statement on Friday that one person had been transported to hospital for observation 'out of an abundance of caution'.
Meanwhile, Oak Parks is working with the ride's manufacturer and state inspectors to unpack why the AtmosFEAR malfunctioned.
They said in a statement: "We wish to express our deepest appreciation to the first responders and our staff for taking prompt action, leading to a positive outcome today, and to the rest of the park guests who swiftly followed directions to vacate the park to make way for the emergency responders to attend to the situation.
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Most of all, we are thankful that the riders are safe and with their families."
UNILAD has reached out to the park for further comment.
Topics: US News
Callum Jones