Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Derailed roller coaster inspected hours earlier
A roller coaster in Daytona Beach that derailed late Thursday, causing two people to fall about 34 feet and sending six to the hospital, had been inspected just hours before the malfunction.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said Friday it was beginning an investigating of the accident.
“Just yesterday, department inspectors conducted a thorough inspection of the ride, and it was found in compliance with state law,” spokeswoman Jennifer Meale said. “We have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the accident, and anyone who should be held accountable will be held accountable.”
In a statement, the Daytona Beach Fire Department said rescuers were called to the Daytona Beach Boardwalk just after 8:30 p.m., arriving to find the Sand Blaster roller coaster dangling from its track and the two riders who fell lying injured on the ground.
Those two were rushed to the hospital while crews began rescuing the riders still trapped aboard the dangling cars. Videos posted online by the Fire Department showed rescuers using a ladder truck to pull riders to safety.
According to the Fire Department, two riders were in the front car, which was completely off the track and perpendicular to the ground, while four were in the partially-derailed middle car and two were in a rear car, which was still on the track.
The riders were wearing seat belts, the agency said.
Rescuers created a pulley system, harnessing the riders in the dangling front car and hoisting them before lowering them to the ground, the Fire Department said. The truck was used to rescue the remaining riders — with crews pulling riders into the bucket and then guiding them down the ladder.
Officials said 10 riders were aboard when the coaster derailed. Six were hospitalized.
Fire Chief Dru Driscoll said the agency was fortunate that among the responding crews were members of the department’s Technical Rescue Team, which “trains specifically for these type of incidents and specializes in high-rise rescue.”
According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, all of the patients were alert as they were taken by ambulance to Halifax Health Medical Center.
A witness told WFTVChannel 9 that, at first, it seemed like the train’s abrupt dive “was part of the ride, because we were kind of far away. And then we heard a big bang and people screaming like they were hurt.”
“It was barely hanging on by a thread,” the witness told the news station. “It looked like it could have snapped off at any point. It looked like plastic was literally holding it.”