A group of children and adults endured a nightmare scenario during a trip to Adventureland in New York on Friday. While riding the "Wave Twister" ride, the group became stuck mid-air, leaving everyone stranded for hours.
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Both fire departments and emergency services were called to the scene. According to PEOPLE, " it took around three hours, but crews were able to safely get everyone off the ride with no reports of injuries."
According to police who spoke with PEOPLE following the incident, the youngest children on the ride were just five years old. One adult, aged 40, was also on board, while the remaining children ranged from eight to 12 years old.
As you can imagine, the whole situation must have been terrifying. Some of those children may have avoided getting onto rides for the rest of their lives. Currently, the root cause of the ride's malfunction is not known. The ride is expected to remain closed while staff investigates.
After all, Adventureland will want to avoid any further issues, especially as the risk of injury would rise if the situation were to occur for a second time.
Adventureland Issued a Statement
Following the incident, Adventureland issued a statement to PEOPLE.
"For more than 60 years, Adventureland has enjoyed a proud record of safety and guest satisfaction," the statement said. "We understand the concern of the riders and their families who were involved today, and we will be working with our ride consultants to fully assess what happened. Until further review, that ride will not be in service. We appreciate the dedication of the many first responder departments who skillfully assisted in getting our guests off the ride."
While rare, ride malfunctions will always be a risk. They're machines, and sometimes, machines stop working. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, and they were all able to return home at the end of the day. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean the children weren't terrified.
Hopefully, Adventureland can locate the cause of the issue in the near future. That way, a fix can be implemented, and thrillseekers can get back to enjoying the ride without the risk of being stuck in the air for hours on end.
