Boy falls from rollercoaster that student was killed on
THE mother of a Durham University student who died on a rollercoaster believes that “lessons have not been learnt” as a six-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital after being injured on the same ride.
The child, who last night was said to be in a non-life-threatening condition, fell from the Twister rollercoaster at Lightwater Valley theme park, near Ripon, in North Yorkshire, at 10:30am yesterday.
He was rushed to Leeds General Infirmary by Yorkshire Air Ambulance after witnesses saw him fall “face down about 20 to 30ft to ground”.
“He mustn’t have been strapped in right, or too small for [the] ride,” Simon Moran, a father who had been visiting the park yesterday, wrote on Twitter.
“As it went down the fast bit towards the ‘souvenir’ camera, he slid out and over the top of the carriage.”
The incident comes after the death of 20-year-old Durham University student Gemma Savage, who was killed after two cars collided on the Twister ride in June 2001.
Five years later, Mr Justice Simon ordered that the park’s owners, Lightwater Valley Attractions, must pay a £35,000 fine plus £40,000 costs for health and safety breaches. Miss Savage’s mother, Linda Savage, described yesterday’s accident as “unbelievable”.
“Lessons clearly have not been learnt,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
“The ride was not fit for purpose 18 years ago, and it is still causing problems.
“The accident that killed Gemma devastated our family.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the young boy who was injured.”
On a page that has since been taken down from the park’s website, the ride was described as a “fun-packed experience for all the family”.
“The track is full of seriously tight turns, giving riders the impression that they might not make it around the next corner, with the threat of plummeting into the treetops being a constant source of tension for parents (and amusement for the kids),” the description read.