Park closes ride after fatal accident at fair in US

A HIGH-SPEED thrill ride has been shut down and is being dismantled as a precaution after a man died when he was thrown from a similar attraction in the US.

The Beach Party ride, which swings seated riders up into the air while spinning them around, has been decommissioned at Coney Beach Amusement Park in Porthcawl.

Funfair owner Pat Evans said he took the decision to close it down and remove certain parts just hours after the 18-year-old man died and three others were critically injured after being flung from the ride, also known as the KMG Afterburner, at the Ohio State Fair.

Footage from the incident in the US appears to show one of the passenger carriages, which are attached to a pendulum, breaking loose.

Mr Evans said he did not wait for formal notification of closure to be received from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

“By 8am last Thursday we had consulted with our regulatory bodies and, in light of certain advice given to us, we took the immediate decision to remove the Afterburner, known on our park as Beach Party, from commission,” he said.

“A decision was made by our team to refer the matter to the ride manufacturers and to send key elements of the ride to them for examination. The matter was reported to the Health and Safety Executive.”

The HSE has now served a formal prohibition notice on the Beach Party ride and four other Afterburner rides in the UK, which are located at Pleasure Wood Hills, Norfolk, Ryan Crow Amusements in the north east of England, and Brean Theme Park in Somerset.

The other ride is owned by Joseph Manning in Herefordshire.

Mr Evans said: “Our actions were pre-emptive and done entirely in the interests of public safety which, at all times, is our paramount priority.”