Two teenagers are facing charges after police said they deliberately caused a swing ride to spin out of control, injuring three people.
The 13-year-olds had reportedly been warned not to lock their seats together while the ride was moving at the Columbia County Fall Fair in Georgia on Saturday, a sheriff’s department spokesperson told WRDW.
Disturbing video appears to show the ride operating normally before becoming unstable as it slowed. Riders can be heard screaming as the swings seemed to collide with one another.
One woman’s swing then appeared to break away from the ride, sending her through the air.
Kristen Murphy, the mother who filmed the incident, dropped her phone after seeing the woman thrown from the ride. She said the chairs were “violently hitting the riders, the passengers [and] other chairs.”
“My husband even told me, you know, he was several hundred feet behind me at the other ride with my other two kids, and he said, ‘Well, from my perspective, being far back, it looked like pure chaos. It looked like the ride was going to fly apart,’” she recalled.
Authorities said one woman was injured and taken from the fairgrounds by ambulance. Two children were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
The unidentified 13-year-olds were issued paperwork charging them with unruly behavior and were allowed to leave the fair with their parents, according to Local 12 News.
Two 13-year-olds are facing charges after allegedly causing a swing ride to become unstable at the Columbia County Fall Fair in Georgia on Saturday
Disturbing footage appeared to show one woman’s swing breaking away from the ride and sending her flying
Murphy, whose teenagers were riding at the time, told WRDW that she ran toward them while the ride was still moving.
“This ride has to stop. My kids are on it. Something’s happening. I need to get to them,” she recalled saying.
Other parents rushed to the control panel and helped her husband bring the ride to a stop. Once it halted, Murphy said she saw that there were “some pretty severe injuries.”
CONTINUE READING: Emmanuel Macron's Marital Status: Has He Separated from His Wife, Brigitte Macron? – NewsFinale
Murphy also said she saw little urgency from law enforcement or EMS and claimed no one from the Merchants took a statement from her family.
She said the experience has left her uncertain about whether she will ever attend a fair again.
“I was already apprehensive about it to begin with, just ’cause these rides are taken up and down all the time, you know, and your kids want to go, you let your kids talk you into it and then the next thing you know, this is what happens.”
The Daily Mail has contacted the Merchants Association of Columbia County, which organizes the annual fair, and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
The frightening incident occurred less than a month after Hassan Kariem, 42, died in a freak accident on the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia in Austell, about two and a half hours away.
Hassan Kariem, 42, died in a freak accident on The Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on October 12
The park’s CEO said seatbelts would be added to several rides after Kariem’s death. Riders are pictured being evacuated from the coaster after the accident
The teacher was captured on video being thrown from his seat in front of horrified passengers, including members of his family.
John Reilly, CEO of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, later announced that seatbelts would be added to the ride, which has remained closed since the tragedy.
“We are reinforcing safety precautions at our parks and taking additional measures, including adding seat belts on Goliath and other coasters with a similar restraint,” Reilly said.
The CEO said ride operators undergo a multistage training program involving “classroom instruction, hands-on training, and supervised, on-the-job experience,” along with further instruction and evaluation when needed.
Robert Niles, editor of ThemeParkInsider.com, told WSB-TV that some rides do not use seatbelts because they can add to riders’ wait times.
“That seat belt is an added layer, which up until now all the evidence has been that that clamshell restraint has been good enough that you don’t need the extra security of the lap belt as well, which would take another moment or two to connect and disconnect at the end of the ride,” Niles said.
“But right now, given what’s happened, that might change the calculus for a lot of theme parks.”