Beijing theme park visitors left dangling as Ferris wheel stops spinning
People spend 30 minutes in mid-air after power failure causes months-old ride to malfunction
Visitors to a Beijing amusement park got a longer ride than expected on Tuesday, when the Ferris wheel they were on broke down, local media reported.
Dozens of people were left dangling in mid-air for about 30 minutes when the 100m-tall Dream Star ride gave up the ghost, Beijing Morning Post reported on Wednesday.
An employee was quoted as saying that the fault was caused by a power failure, which likely tripped the ride’s automatic shut-off mechanism, adding that the incident led to staff implementing the park’s emergency procedure for the very first time.
Everyone on the ride was safely evacuated, the report said, though it did not say how.
A visitor who witnessed the incident was quoted by Beijing Business Today as saying there were a lot of people on the wheel at the time and that they were making a “commotion”.