Boy dangles dangerously from Ferris wheel in Chinese amusement park
Crowds watch on as family outing turns to horror with 5-year-old saved only by his trapped head at top of the ride
A five-year-old boy dangled 42 metres (138 feet) above the ground with his head stuck in the bars at the top of a Ferris wheel while Mid-Autumn Festival crowds looked on in horror at an amusement park in southeastern China on Monday.
The child’s mother had convinced staff to let the boy ride alone so she could avoid the 30 yuan (US$4.40) ride fare at the Taizhou Yuhuan Amusement Park in Zhejiang province, according to local media.
Once on board, the child, known as Xiao Liang, began climbing around, eventually pushing his legs and torso through the bars fitted over the carriage’s open window. He was only saved from a perilous fall when his head got stuck in the bars.
The crowd of witnesses on the ground began screaming and pointing as they watched his entire body, from the neck down, hang limply outside the carriage, which was near its highest point on the Ferris wheel.
Ride operators worked to slow down the ride and bring Xiao Liang’s carriage safely to the ground so they could release the child, who was crying uncontrollably, out of his trapped position.