Teens to be paid $275,000 in compensation for roller coaster accident in US

Teens to be paid $275,000 each in US ride accident

Two teenage girls who were left hanging upside down on a ride at an amusement park in Portland, Oregon for nearly 25 minutes have been awarded $275,000 each, The Oregonian reported, citing a court decision.

The incident occurred on June 14, 2024, at Oaks Amusement Park. The AtmosFEAR ride was carrying 28 people when it suddenly stopped in an inverted position.

One of the girls was 13 and the other was 14 at the time of the accident. They told the court that they had difficulty breathing, that the safety devices had opened, and that they were afraid of falling from a height of about 30 meters.

According to one of the victims, "I saw tears streaming down people's faces because everyone was scared. And after a few minutes, I saw some people getting nauseous and vomiting."

According to Fox, park staff did not have a prepared plan for such an emergency. Therefore, they had to first call for instructions on what to do, and then wait for firefighters and special equipment to arrive.

Later, the girls complained of nightmares and sleep problems. The exact cause of the malfunction has not yet been fully determined. However, now a system has been installed that automatically returns the ride to its original state if it malfunctions.

Previously, incidents related to the malfunction of the ride also occurred in Spain and India. In April, a flying attraction at a fair in Seville collapsed. The "catapult" attraction was in the shape of a balloon and was held up by two cables. During the ascent, one of the cables broke. As a result, people on the attraction fell down, injuring a total of four people, including two children.

In February, 13 people were injured and one person died when an attraction collapsed at a fair in Faridabad, Haryana. Earlier, dozens of tourists in Brazil were left hanging in the air on a broken attraction. They spent more than two hours at a height of 60 meters.