These amusement park horror stories are shocking! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the most harrowing true stories regarding amusement park accidents.
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00:00We've just heard that four ambulances have been dispatched to Luna Park following the reports of a fire.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most harrowing true stories regarding amusement park accidents.
00:10I think the very reason people were attracted to Action Park was because they could get hurt.
00:16The many accidents of Derby Racer, Revere, Massachusetts, USA.
00:20The park was loaded with state-of-the-art attractions.
00:23This was the Japanese village. It had its own 50-foot tall Mount Fuji in the back.
00:27Once upon a time, Massachusetts Revere Beach hosted the Derby Racer,
00:31a wooden coaster that featured two trains racing side-by-side on separate tracks.
00:35While you don't often see them now, this was a very popular design in the early 1900s.
00:39Back to the lost wonderland, the rides were cutting edge for the early 1900s.
00:44Unfortunately, this particular ride was poorly constructed and had a terrible safety record throughout its 25 years.
00:50Numerous people died or were injured, including a young man who was seriously hurt the same year that the coaster opened.
00:56This could have been a warning.
00:57After numerous further incidents, the Massachusetts Supreme Court opened a case against the Derby Racer's operator,
01:02and it was ultimately demolished in 1936.
01:05Major collision on the Smiler, Staffordshire, England.
01:08Ten weeks ago, her future was changed forever when she boarded a roller coaster at Alton Towers.
01:14Alton Towers is home to the Smiler, which had the most inversions of any roller coaster in the world with 14.
01:20But tragedy struck the ride on June 2, 2015.
01:23An empty train was sent on a test run but subsequently stalled on the track.
01:27The engineers running the coaster were unaware that a test train had been sent out,
01:30and they overrode the coaster's safety mechanism to run a train full of people.
01:34The two collided at high speeds, seriously injuring five riders, including two that required leg amputations.
01:40The collision was likened to crashing a car at 90 miles per hour,
01:43and Merlin Attractions was later fined £5 million by the Stafford Crown Court.
01:48A stubbed toe leads to death, Orlando, Florida, USA.
01:52It's amazing how such a trivial injury can have fatal consequences.
01:5559-year-old Keith Clark was visiting Discovery Cove in Orlando, Florida,
01:59an aquatic-themed amusement park that allows visitors to interact with various animals.
02:03Clark was inside a simulated coral reef and cut his toe on a rock.
02:07He initially thought nothing of it, but three days later, he collapsed in the airport.
02:10He was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with septic shock and organ failure.
02:14Sepsis is the body's extreme response to common bacterial infections.
02:19Both of Clark's legs were eventually amputated,
02:21but it was too late and he died of a blood infection two months after the incident.
02:25It's believed that Clark's hemophilia exacerbated the injury
02:28and allowed the bacteria in the pool to more easily enter his bloodstream.
02:32Sepsis essentially is something that happens as a result of infection that goes undiagnosed and untreated.
02:39And that's important to know because essentially it can happen to any of us.
02:42The ghost train fire, Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia.
02:46More than 30 people were riding the train when attendants saw black smoke pouring from entries and exits of the building.
02:51This is one of those stories that absolutely infuriates you,
02:54the kind where absolutely nothing goes right.
02:56At 10.15 p.m. on June 9, 1979, a fire began in the ghost train ride at Luna Park, Sydney.
03:02It wasn't long before the fire completely enveloped the entire ride, killing seven people.
03:06The fire was allowed to spread due to a multitude of mistakes, including inadequate staffing,
03:11the lack of a sprinkler system inside the ride, and low water pressure in the hose.
03:15An inquest was launched, but poor investigative work resulted in a lack of charges.
03:19And finally, the exact cause of the fire remains unknown,
03:22leaving the entire story a frustrating mess of failed jobs.
03:26Being a firefighter for almost 35 years,
03:29I don't know how they could have come to that conclusion so quickly without a thorough investigation.
03:36A horrific accident at Kentucky Kingdom, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
03:40In court documents, Caitlin describes the terrifying turn of events that unfolded next.
03:46This amusement park once hosted Superman Tower of Power,
03:49a drop tower ride that lifts people high into the air before quickly dropping them back down to earth.
03:54On this day, Caitlin Lassiter was on the ride when a cable snapped and wrapped itself around her feet.
03:59Unfortunately, it severed both limbs when the carriage quickly dropped to the ground.
04:03They were able to save her right foot, but she required a leg amputation below the knee on the left side.
04:08The ride was subsequently dismantled and the Lassiter family sued Six Flags,
04:12receiving treatment for the rest of Caitlin's life in addition to an undisclosed amount.
04:16The catastrophic collapse of El Pendulo, Barcelona, Spain.
04:19The Tibidabo amusement park is one of the oldest operating parks in the entire world.
04:24However, on July 10, 2010, a swinging ride called El Pendulo suffered a catastrophic failure
04:29when the mechanical arm malfunctioned and broke off, falling into a nearby log ride.
04:33The accident claimed one life and injured three others.
04:36El Pendulo was in operation for just four years before the incident occurred,
04:40and Barcelona City Council, the owners of the park, ultimately admitted that there were mechanical issues with the ride.
04:45A subsequent independent study from the Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering
04:49and an investigation claimed that El Pendulo was poorly constructed and designed.
04:54A graduation celebration goes awry.
04:56Concord, California, USA.
04:58It was June 2, 1997, and a group of seniors were celebrating their upcoming graduation from Napa High School.
05:05Shortly before returning to the bus, a large number of students swarmed the Banzai Pipeline,
05:10a water slide that was apparently only designed to accommodate about 10 riders at a time.
05:14They wished to go down together and piled onto the slide, outnumbering the sole lifeguard on duty
05:19and failing to heed their pleas and warnings.
05:21Unfortunately, the combined weight of the people caused the slide to collapse, and they all fell to the ground.
05:2632 were reportedly injured, and one individual died of a crushed chest.
05:30America's deadliest roller coaster incident, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
05:34Also known as Omaha's Polite Resort, Krug Park was an independent attraction owned by beer magnate Frederick Krug,
05:40and in 1930, it was home to what was then the deadliest roller coaster accident in American history.
05:45Around 6 p.m. on July 24, a bolt on the Big Dipper came loose, sending four cars full of people crashing to the ground.
05:5217 were hurt, and four died.
05:54The accident was so bad that the Omaha City Council promptly banned roller coasters in the city,
05:59a move which spelled doom for Krug Park.
06:01It stayed open for another 10 years, but things weren't the same without the coasters, and the park closed for good in 1940.
06:07Deaths on the Coney Island Cyclone, New York City, New York, USA.
06:15One of the most popular roller coasters in America, the Coney Island Cyclone first opened in 1927
06:21and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
06:24Its status in American history is firmly established, but it also has a history of disturbing violence.
06:31When it broke down, they were given vouchers to come back another day.
06:34One major incident occurred on May 26, 1985, when a man stood up while riding the coaster
06:39and died after hitting his head on a crossbeam.
06:41Just three years later, a maintenance worker who was riding the coaster fell out of the cart
06:45and hit a beam 30 feet below, also resulting in death.
06:48And in 2007, a 53-year-old man broke his neck while on the coaster and passed four days later.
06:54A rocket simulation gets all too real, Shenzhen, China.
06:57The Chinese amusement park EcoVenture Valley hosts a ride called Space Journey,
07:02which simulates the experience of blasting off in a rocket.
07:05Riders sit under a dome spanning nearly 80 feet in diameter and rattle around in carts
07:10while experiencing rapid acceleration.
07:12But in the summer of 2010, the ride suffered a mechanical issue
07:15which caused the spinning contraption to go off balance.
07:18This, in turn, caused the carts to reportedly fall around 50 feet
07:21and repeatedly slam into the ground at high speeds.
07:24Six passengers were killed in the incident and a further 10 were injured.
07:28A 75-foot drop at Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington, Texas, USA.
07:33Have you ever sat down on a ride and had the distinct feeling that the safety bar across your lap
07:37wasn't as secure or snug as it should be?
07:39Usually, the ride takes off and your fear is quickly replaced with exhilaration.
07:43Sadly for Rosa Ayala Gaona Esparza, that fear was totally justified.
07:48There was apparently some discussion as to whether her safety restraint was securely locked
07:52before takeoff that day at Six Flags Over Texas.
07:54But ultimately, the machine operator okayed it.
07:57During the ride, she was flung from the cart and fell 75 feet to her death from the roller coaster,
08:01known as Texas Giant.
08:03Worse even, her body was partially severed during the fall.
08:06Since the safety of our guests and employees is our number one priority,
08:10that section of the park has been temporarily closed.
08:13Employee Fatality, Disneyland, Anaheim, California, USA.
08:17For many families, there's no place more magical and wholesome than a Disney park.
08:20But as the tragic death of a boy following a gator attack at Disney World proves,
08:24even the happiest place on earth can't always guarantee your safety.
08:27Meanwhile, in 1974, a Disneyland, California cast member, Deborah Gail Stone,
08:32died while performing her duties as hostess of America Sings, a musical animatronic attraction.
08:37On the ninth day of the attraction's operation, Stone was caught and crushed between a rotating wall and a fixed one.
08:43Sadly, by the time emergency crews got to her, the high school grad student had succumbed to her severe injuries.
08:49The Mindbender Incident at Galaxyland, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
08:53Three of the four passengers in that final car were suddenly tossed up.
08:57The Mindbender, part of the Galaxyland Amusement Park in Canada's West Edmonton Mall,
09:01holds the prestigious title as the world's largest indoor triple loop roller coaster.
09:05But as Icarus knows all too well, those who climb too high are bound to fall.
09:09Not only did the Mindbender's reputation take a serious hit when this fatal accident occurred in 1986,
09:15but the unfortunate incident also happened during a live concert,
09:18ensuring a large audience was there to witness the event.
09:21Missing bolts from the left side wheels allowed a car to derail and crash, tragically killing three people.
09:26The accident prompted a thorough investigation and instigated numerous new safety and operation protocols,
09:32and the ride remained operational until 2023.
09:35A Truly Intense Mission Space at Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA.
09:40The Mission Space attraction at Disney World's Epcot Park quickly earned itself a reputation when it opened in 2003.
09:47While many love the extreme thrills offered by the ride, it's proved too much for others.
09:51Between 2005 and 2006, just under 200 riders required medical assistance.
09:56Symptoms included nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and in more extreme cases,
10:00difficulties breathing, arrhythmic heart palpitations, and chest pain.
10:03In 2005 and 2006, respectively, a boy and woman died after going on the ride.
10:08While Disney was ruled not to be at fault in both cases, they did alter the ride after the 2006 incident,
10:14offering a tamer version alongside the original.
10:17A Shocking Day at Kings Island, Mason, Ohio, USA.
10:20Theme parks are designed to be exciting, but electrifying? Not so much.
10:24On one truly unlucky day in June 1991, this park claimed the lives of three people in two separate incidents.
10:30In a case that sends chills up and down our spines, two men were electrocuted to death by a faulty underwater pump.
10:36How? They'd gone into a pond to retrieve a third man who had fallen in.
10:40Of the three, only the third man survived.
10:43That same day, a woman fell from a ride to her death.
10:45Considering there's a cemetery on the property and in the light of these deaths, many believe the park to be haunted.
10:51It just slung her out of the ride. She went ahead first and threw her about 30, 35 to 40 feet away from the ride.
10:57A deadly crash at Expo Land, Suita, Japan.
11:00A leftover from the 1970 Osaka World Fair, it was once considered one of Japan's most popular theme parks.
11:06Now all anyone seems to remember about Expo Land is the incident.
11:10In 2007, the Fujin Raijin 2 roller coaster derailed, claiming a life and injuring another 19 people in the process.
11:17A formal investigation revealed that the roller coaster had been improperly maintained.
11:21The park closed temporarily, then reopened briefly, only to shut down for good in 2009.
11:26The owners simply couldn't regain the public trust they had lost.
11:29The deadly ride at Battersea Park, Battersea, London, England.
11:33Battersea Park is a 200-acre area of green space in London, England that's been reinvented numerous times over the years.
11:39Nowadays, it's a public space with sports complexes, a boating area, walking paths, and more.
11:44But from 1951 to 1974, it was also home to the Battersea Fun Fair, an amusement park with various attractions.
11:51The crowning gem of the Fun Fair was the Big Dipper, a thrilling wooden roller coaster, but the 70s were hard on the ride.
11:57First, it experienced a serious fire in 1970.
12:00Then in 1972, the Big Dipper suffered a critical train detachment that took five lives.
12:05Ultimately, the Fun Fair closed two years later.
12:08Medieval siege weapon at Middlemore Water Park, Wolverhampton, Somerset, England.
12:13In Oxfordshire, Great Britain, the mad dogs and Englishmen of the Dangerous Sports Club built a medieval trebuchet.
12:21For the most part, Middlemore Water Park is a humble establishment.
12:24They have a man-made lake where you can partake in water sports and a go-kart track.
12:28Among a few other odds and ends, the ill-fated catapult, however, was not technically a Middlemore offering,
12:33but rather a visiting attraction or extreme sports installation being hosted at the water park.
12:38To toss adrenaline junkies 180 feet at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.
12:44Having operated with minimal injuries for a couple of years, the inevitable happened in 2002
12:49when Oxford University student Kostadin Yankov missed the net and died.
12:53The trebuchet owners were charged with and acquitted of manslaughter.
12:57Various accidents at Action Park, Vernon, New Jersey, USA.
13:01At Action Park, the most dangerous ride probably from sheer amount of injuries would be the Alpine Slide.
13:09The story of Action Park in New Jersey could fill the squeamish with enough doubt to avoid amusement parks for the rest of their lives.
13:15Six people are known to have died at the park in a variety of ways.
13:18Rides fatally malfunctioned, faulty wiring delivered lethal electrocutions, and subpar lifeguarding resulted in multiple drownings.
13:25Local doctors allegedly called it Class Action Park
13:28due to the high number of injured patients they received courtesy of the establishment.
13:32Plus, the original park had a reputation for employing underage and poorly trained staff
13:36and having lax to downright negligent safety standards.
13:39Meaning that unless you left the park in an ambulance, it was almost certainly not going to be reported.
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14:00The Haunted Castle at Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, New Jersey, USA
14:04Haunted castles are always a bad idea because when something scary happens,
14:08you never know whether it's all part of the fun or a life-threatening malfunction.
14:12Well, in 1984, when smoke started building up in this spooky attraction at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey,
14:19people made the right call and fled for their lives.
14:21Sadly, eight did not make it out in time, becoming trapped in the blazing structure.
14:25Their burns were so severe that they could only be identified with the help of dental records and jewelry.
14:30Adding insult to fatal injury due to legal technicalities, Six Flags escaped any and all legal responsibility.
14:36Are you still a fan of amusement parks? Let us know in the comments below.
14:40Before long, Action Park's parent company had to declare bankruptcy.
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