Ocean Park closes Halloween attraction after man found dead inside haunted house
Theme park investigating first fatal accident since annual festival began in 2001
Hong Kong’s Ocean Park has closed its Halloween-themed haunted house after a 21-year-old man died inside it.
Police received the alert from the amusement park at 2.06pm Saturday and confirmed a man surnamed Cheung had been certified dead at Ruttonjee Hospital.
Cheung was a friend of an employee of a Swire Group subsidiary, the conglomerate confirmed. The group’s staff association had arranged a visit to the park from 1 to 11pm Saturday for an annual staff event.
Ocean Park CEO Matthias Li Sing-chung said Cheung was found passed out five minutes after he had entered the haunted house. The area where he was found was supposed to be “a place for our staff to carry out some maintenance work”, according to Eva Au Yeung Yee-wah, the park’s director of events and entertainment.
A haunted house should be designed to offer a single way out for visitors
Called Buried Alive, the attraction consists of a slide and haunted house. Guests take the slide to enter the haunted house alone as part of a “single-player” experience.