Rider plunges to death when roller coaster partially derails at Sweden amusement park
One person was killed and several others were injured when they plunged from a roller coaster Sunday — after it partially careened off its tracks in a terrifying accident inside Sweden’s oldest amusement park.
Thrill-seekers at Gröna Lund park watched in horror as the front of the roller coaster train appeared to jump off the tracks before coming to a sudden halt as one car tilted toward the ground, according to witnesses.
Nine people, including three children, were rushed to the hospital in addition to the person killed in the derailment, the regional government said.
“Then the car stops and people fly out — fall out of the car,” witness Ziba Assadi told Swedish broadcaster TV4.
One adult was in serious condition.
The three kids only suffered minor injuries.
“The front of the train partly derailed and stopped on the track at a height of between 6 and 8 meters [between 20 and 25 feet],” park chief executive Jan Eriksson said. “A total of 14 people were onboard, of which one person has died and several are injured.”
Eriksson also called it a “day of mourning” at the park during a press conference.
Witnesses saw two or three passengers fall out of the car, including one who held onto the track.
Photos of the scene showed a man sitting on a beam of the coaster below the stopped train.
“So he sits there straddling [the beam] and waits,” Assadi said. “There was complete panic.”
She said she also saw the wheel assembly of one of the cars crash to the ground.
Jenny Lagerstedt, a journalist at the park with her family, told Swedish broadcaster SVT she heard a metallic noise and saw the track shaking at the time of the accident.
“My husband saw a roller coaster car with people in it falling to the ground,” Lagerstedt said.
“My children were scared,” she added.
Authorities have opened a criminal probe into the accident as they explore whether involuntary manslaughter or other charges are warranted.
The amusement park, which opened in 1883, was evacuated after the deadly accident and will be closed for seven days so investigators can sort out what went wrong, park officials said.
“This should not be allowed to happen,” Gröna Lund spokeswoman Annika Troselius said in a statement. “Safety is the most important thing for us. And we would never open an attraction if we were not confident that it was safe, so this is something we need to investigate thoroughly.”
The 2,600-foot-long roller coaster opened in 1988 and was renovated in 2000, the amusement park said.
Its highest point is about 98 feet tall and the coaster can go as fast as 56 mph.
With Post wires
