‘People were screaming’: faulty Ferris wheel in China leaves over 100 people stranded
Firefighters had to bring the 138 trapped visitors down to safety
More than 100 people were left stranded on a Ferris wheel after a power failure at an amusement park in eastern China on Sunday night.
Firefighters had to rescue the 138 people at the park in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, the Modern Express reported.
No one was injured.
A woman, who was not named, said she was trapped on the wheel for one and a half hours.
She posted online that the power failure on the Ferris wheel occurred around 7.50pm on Sunday.
Her carriage stopped near the top of the wheel during the ride, leaving her some 60 metres above ground, she said.
She started feeling nauseous after being trapped in the carriage for about half an hour, but firefighters did not manage to reach her until 9.15pm, she said.
A witness told the newspaper that the wheel started moving again after firefighters arrived, but that it was moving much faster than its normal speed.
“People in the carriages were screaming,” she said.
A park employee denied that the visitors were trapped for more than an hour.
She told the Modern Express everyone was brought down to safety within 40 minutes.
Details were not given about why or how the power failure came about, when it started or how long it took before services resumed.
Visitors were granted a refund of their tickets or to get new ones for another day, the report said.
The case is being investigated.
