Terrified Kids Hang From Rollercoaster At 20 Feet For 90 Minutes As Young Girl Is Rushed To Hospital

A rollercoaster broke down 20 feet in the air that left terrified children and parents hanging for 90 minutes.

Children were dangling from the ride at Pleasureland, in Southport, Merseyside on Saturday, said witnesses, as reported by Daily Mail. A young girl ended up with a head injury. North West Ambulance Service were at the scene.

They said that the child was unconscious but breathing. She was treated by paramedics before being transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, according to ITV. Her father was seen by witnesses trying desperately to reach his daughter.

Nineteen people were removed from the ride with a Cherry Picker by the theme park's maintenance crew. It took an hour and a half to complete. There were no other injuries that were reported. Seventeen of the passengers were given precautionary check overs by paramedics after they were rescued.

Michael Bowman was visiting the park with his wife and son, 8. The 57-year-old witness told Mirror that they walked towards The Rocket and he thought "something's not right there." They looked up and said, "Oh my God, it's stuck all the way round." He added that people could see that it was "on an angle and they were all leaning." Bowman shared that the parents "had hold of the children because they were leaning out of the carriage on the bend."

A multi-agency meeting happened between "North West Ambulance Service and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and the Health and Safety Executive was informed," said Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. They added that the ride is to be isolated and a "full inspection to be carried out."

Pleasureland apologized for the "distress caused to passengers on one of our coasters." Their immediate priority was "looking after everyone’s safe removal from the ride." They said that senior management and maintenance team members would be continuing a "thorough investigation into carriages stopping on the park’s Rocket Coaster."

The statement further read that all routine "maintenance checks had been carried out." It said that the ride did exactly what its safety settings are programmed to do, and "stopped on detecting a fault." They noted that no passenger was at any risk of falling from the ride, and that the carriages were secure on the track. The "park’s operations director immediately made his way up the gantry to speak to riders and explain that they would be brought off the ride safely, as part of the park’s instant response safety process."

They also mentioned that young girl who had lost consciousness was the "team’s priority, and immediately checked by ambulance paramedics. That first-response healthcare team was available to other passengers." The statement read that their priority is always safety and their team checks and maintains rides. They train to keep emergency "procedures front of mind, should they be needed, so they are delivered fast and effectively."

As maintenance staff members were attending the broken down rollercoaster, other rides also had to close.