Boy, 5, in critical condition after fall from Paris Disneyland's Pirates ride

A five-year-old boy was in critical condition after falling off a boat in Disneyland Paris' Pirates of the Caribbean ride, police and management said.

Anne Chazareix, the police officer in charge of the probe into the accident, said the boy, "accompanied by his father, lost his balance when the boat was arriving at the end of the ride" in the amusement park near Paris.

He "fell and found himself stuck under the boat" in the water, she added, before his father and others pulled him out.

The accident happened on Wednesday afternoon, at a time of high attendance during school holidays, and the boy was rushed to hospital.

Chazareix said he was in critical condition but did not seem to have "visible injuries".

The ride - which is a feature of other Disneylands around the world, though not in Hong Kong - allows visitors to glide on boats through various pirate scenes that include fighting and shipwrecks.