Riders on Mihama Ferris wheel stranded for hours

The Ferris wheel in Carnival Park Mihama malfunctioned and stopped Friday afternoon leaving 24 riders, including small school children, stranded in its gondolas.

12 of the riders managed to escape by themselves, but the rest 12 had to wait in the enclosed gondolas to be rescued by the fire department. The last of the riders had to wait five hours before they were helped down from their predicament. No one was injured.

The operator of the Ferris wheel at Carnival Park Mihama reportedly stopped the ride for a handicapped child passenger to get on the gondola, but when he tried to restart it failed.

This is the first incident with the Mihama Ferris wheel since it started operating in April 2000. Officials at Okamoto Seisakuysyo of Osaka, a company that operates the ride say that the Ferris wheel will be thoroughly examined and the service suspended until the cause of the malfunction is found.

 

Shiraishi6.2

23:34 29 Mar , 2024