By KARL RITTER (Associated Press)
STOCKHOLM (AP) — A curler coaster prepare derailed in Stockholm on Sunday, sending some passengers plunging to the bottom in an amusement park accident that left one lifeless and 9 injured, police and park officers stated.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene on the Gröna Lund park because the entrance of the prepare appeared to leap off the tracks earlier than coming to a cease, with one automotive tilted towards the bottom.
“The front of the train partly derailed and stopped on the track at a height of between 6 and 8 meters (between 20 and 25 feet),” park chief government Jan Eriksson stated. “A total of 14 people were on board, of which one person has died and several are injured.”
The regional authorities stated 9 folks had been taken to a hospital, considered one of them in critical situation. Three of the injured had been kids, all of them with minor accidents, it stated.
Witness Ziba Assadi advised Swedish broadcaster TV4 that she was standing just under the Jetline curler coaster when she noticed the wheel meeting of one of many automobiles crashing to the bottom.
“Then the car stops and people fly out, fall out of the car,” she stated.
Witnesses stated two or three folks fell out of the automotive, considered one of whom managed to cling to the observe. Photos from the scene confirmed a person sitting on a beam beneath the stopped prepare.
“So he sits there straddling (the beam) and waits,” Assadi stated. “There was complete panic.”
The amusement park was evacuated after the accident and can stay closed for seven days to permit investigators to search out out what went incorrect, park officers stated.
“This should not be allowed to happen,” Gröna Lund spokeswoman Annika Troselius stated. “Safety is the most important thing for us. And we would never open an attraction if we were not confident that it was safe, so this is something we need to investigate thoroughly.”
Police launched a legal investigation on attainable costs of involuntary manslaughter, inflicting bodily hurt and inflicting hazard to others.
The 800-meter (2,600-foot) lengthy Jetline rollercoaster opened in 1988 and was renovated in 2000, in keeping with Gröna Lund. It has a most top of 30 meters (98 toes) and a prime velocity of 90 kph (56 mph).
Opened in 1883, Gröna Lund is Sweden’s oldest amusement park.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”