Section of Track Missing at Brighton Pier's Turbo Ride

1st Car Dangling Precariously

© News International Newspapers Limited

BRIGHTON, EAST SUSSEX [UK] — On the 12th of December 2002, tragedy almost struck Brighton Pier in the south of England. Fourteen employees of a London design firm, Williams Murray Hamm, were enjoying a two day company Christmas party at Brighton when one of the park's attendants allowed eight employees to ride "Turbo", a Pinfari Zyklon model roller coaster, not knowing it was actually in the middle of repairs. A section of the track had been removed just after the brake block. Once it was known what had happened, the attendant applied the emergency brakes causing the train to come to a screeching halt leaving only the first car hanging over the edge..

The terrified passengers stayed restrained for a while until they were lifted out of each car and rescued with ladders before maintenance workers took each car off one by one. A Health and Safety official will now investigate the incident.

Partygoers were offered a free ride as compensation - but turned it down.

Richard Murray, the company director sitting in the front seat, said "It all happened so quickly and I can't quite believe that I'm alive today. We were near the end of the Turbo ride when I suddenly realized that I couldn't see the track ahead of me. For a split second I thought that it was part of the thrill! The ride then jolted to a sudden halt as the emergency brake slammed on and we all wondered what was going on. I can't believe that no-one was injured. Somebody from the ground, one of our people, said 'It's good you have stopped because there was no rail in front of you.'"

Richard also said, "We could so easily have been looking at multiple fatalities - you hear about this sort of thing all the time at fairgrounds. We were all enjoying a good day out and had already been on two other rides - Wild Mouse and the Dodgems - which had gone smoothly. It seemed like an eternity while they rescued us. I was tempted to call the fire brigade on my mobile phone, but was just relieved when they finally got us out. After the ordeal we all went and had a stiff drink and ate fish and chips."

He added: "We were all too shocked to be angry with the Pier staff. I think the rest of my colleagues who were standing watching us on the ride were more irate. I'm pretty sure that it was negligence not a mechanical fault. We don't want to profit from this near-disaster, but just want to makes sure that it doesn't happen again."

Men Work to Take Each Car Off

© News International Newspapers Limited

"It was fortunate for us that it was the last bit of the track instead of the middle of the loop the loop section because if it was that we would have been killed." said another company director, Richard Williams. He added, "It astonishes all of us that something like this can happen. Naturally we declined the kind offer of another free ride by means of compensation."

"I can confirm that there was an incident on a fairground ride yesterday at around 12.45pm, involving a party of tourists. There were no casualties to report but we are taking the incident very seriously and at present are conducting a full and thorough investigation." a spokeswoman for Bright Pier said. She also said, "As a matter of course the Health and Safety Executive has been informed of this. Once the investigation has been carried out and conclusions have been reached we will be in a better position to make a full statement."

For more information visit: [http://www.brightonpier.co.uk/]


Rated 6.31 by other users. What do you think? [rate this article]