A mother in the UK shared the terrifying moment she was hurt when a Christmas fairground ride suddenly plummeted to the ground.
Police and emergency services in Birmingham, a city about 100 miles northwest of London, rushed to the scene and sealed off an area around the 180-foot-high Star Flyer ride in Centenary Square.
Two women were rushed to the hospital while 11 others reported injuries after the ride suddenly lurched backwards Thursday evening.
A ride collapsed at a Christmas fairground in England. Birmz Is Grime / SWNSLocal resident Lou Brown was on the ride when it suddenly crashed to the ground. The BBC producer hurt her face, legs and arms.
“We were on it having fun and then it just crashed to the ground,” Brown said.
“It felt like we were descending, not at the highest point but still quite high, Brown added. “We just dropped, it went backwards first, though, which I’ve never seen it do before. All the emergency services and everyone who helped at the scene were amazing. This can never happen again — we are in shock and all I can think of is what if my kids were on the ride.”
Over a dozen people were injured when the ride plummeted to the ground. Birmz Is Grime / SWNS
The malfunction happened Thursday evening. Birmz Is Grime / SWNSVideo footage shared on social media shows chaotic scenes as rescue teams sealed off the area around the popular ride.
Pictures also appear to show several gondolas on the ride tangled up in the wires.
Shocked witnesses describe hearing people “screaming in terror” as the ride slammed to the ground.
Gondolas appeared to be tangled up in the wires after the chaos. Emma Trimble / SWNS
Witnesses say people were “screaming in terror” as the ride plummeted to the ground. Emma Trimble / SWNSJohn Spence, 45, was at the fairground with his wife, Julie, 42, and their 10-year-old son, Harris.
“We were near the ride when we heard screaming,” Spence said. “It wasn’t your normal excited screams, this was screams of terror. There was a loud whoosh and bang and then pandemonium. There were lots of people in high-vis jackets running over to help people get off the ride. Within a few minutes you could hear sirens. The emergency services were incredible and all so calm. We stayed out of the way because we didn’t want to make the situation worse by crowding around.”
“We saw some of the people getting helped off the ride and several had bloody faces and were crying,” another witness said. “It was really shocking.”
The City Starflyer ride is provided by Danter Attractions and is described as “one of the tallest rides around.”
