Two teenagers fell 12m from a Ferris wheel at a West Coast agricultural show after a seat reportedly broke and tipped them out.
The two girls fell from the ride at AgFest, held at the Greymouth aerodrome on Saturday, the event’s managing director Andy Thompson told the Greymouth Star.
The two girls were injured and a person below them was also hurt, he said.
They fell about 12m, the Greymouth Star reported.
The ride was being operated by Sturgeon Amusements.
Thompson said neither he nor any member of his team saw the incident.
“We understand three girls were injured. The ride was immediately stopped and police and ambulance attended,” he said.
The ride operator contacted emergency services and WorkSafe immediately.
“An investigation is under way. I can’t say how it happened because I don’t know. That’ll be for the authorities to determine.”
Thompson said Sturgeons Entertainment had provided organisers with full health and safety documentation prior to the event, including maintenance records.
“The machines had all passed inspections leading into what will be a very busy summer season of fairs, A&P shows and festival circuits. We were the first one of the season.”
Senior Sergeant Mark Kirkwood told the Greymouth Star he was at the venue when a support strut on a seat broke, hit one of the supporting columns, and caused the seat to tip forward, pitching the two passengers out.
One of the victims, who asked for anonymity, told the Greymouth Star she and her friend, both 15, were sitting in the seat when her friend grabbed the side bar or grate “and then it kinda just broke off really easily”.
“It hooked on to another piece of metal, we thought it would break off, but the whole cart started tipping forward and we were nearly upside down,” she told the Greymouth Star.
She saw her friend fall but did not remember how she fell or landed herself.
The girl hit her head, scratched her stomach and bruised her leg, while her friend had a sprained foot, the Greymouth Star reported.
The girl said she had since had nightmares about the incident.
“I want to make it known we did not jump and we were not rocking. The cart broke easily. It was not our fault,” she told the paper.
WorkSafe is making inquiries to understand the circumstances of the event and the Ferris wheel cannot be used during this period.
-Allied Media