9 people have been injured following a malfunction at the Wilson County-Tennessee State Fair. Per WSMV 4, 4 of those people needed to be taken to the hospital because of the shocking incident.
The incident happened with a "Wave Swinger" ride - a ride that swings people around in chairs attached to a central column. A viral video shared by the outlet shows the moment things went wrong.
The ride started to dip downward into the cordon fence, causing people's legs to collide. It continued to lower them down, with the sound of metal as well as audible screams being heard.
A rider on the Wave Swinger, which was operated by Reithoffer Shows, explained exactly what happened. Ava Zotti said that she opted to choose a more relaxed ride - or so she thought. "I said, 'Fair rides break all the time'. Like, I'm not going on that, that's too scary! 'Let's just do the swings,'" she recalled.
"The ride was fun until it started coming down and it just was not stopping," Zotti recalled. She explained that the ride wasn't "slowing down enough to come back in".
Zotti also recalled that a friend of hers narrowly avoided hitting the metal railing. "She had to pull her legs up to miss the railing... there was a sign... someone kicked the sign off." She described her experience as "terrifying" and added that she was now more wary of rides.
Videos by Wide Open Country
The State Fair and the Ride Operators Released Statements About the Incident
Reithoffer Shows released a statement about the shocking incident. "We are aware of an incident involving our Wave Swinger ride," they wrote. "The ride stopped, and as it was coming down, a few guests came into contact with the surrounding fence."
They added that "A state inspector is currently examining the ride and, at this time, has found no abnormality with the ride. We do not have any additional information to report at this time."
The Wilson County-Tennessee State Fair also released a statement. It reads, "Nine guests were involved in an incident. Five guests were released at the fairgrounds and four guests were transported to the hospital for further testing."
"Response was immediate and all guests were provided professional medical attention. They were taken to our new on-site medical facility adjacent to the amusement rides and received care immediately."
