More than 60 people experienced a moment of fear and panic after being trapped in the Ferris wheel of the ICON park in Orlando, Floridaafter a blackout that stopped the motors of the attraction, to be later saved by rescuers.
Firefighters had to lower people who were suspended in 20 modules of the wheel with ladders on the night of this Saturday, New Year’s Eve, according to information shared on Twitter by the Orange County Fire Department Public Information Office .
“La Noria lost power Saturday night and we are working with the Orange County Fire Department to safely evacuate customers”, pointed out the message in the aforementioned network of firefighters.
Rescuers had to use a ladder and manually rotate the Ferris wheel to lower the people who were trapped in the attraction.
Fortunately, there were no casualties or injuries in the incident and the cause of the outage remains under investigation, according to Orange County fire officials.
Where a real tragedy occurred was at the “Free Fall” attraction, where a teenager fell and died from his injuries, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office reported on that occasion.
“At first we thought it was part of the trip or whatever, until we got a little closer and it was a person lying on the ground. Everyone was panicking and screaming,” said an interviewee on that occasion by FOX 35 News, who saw the boy fall from the gigantic drop tower.
The tower of the Free Fall attraction, which in English means free fall, is 430 feet tall. It is considered the highest in the world and is designed for 30 passengers.
The Orlando Free Fall is located next to the Orlando Slingshot. These attractions are relatively new. They belong to the Slingshot Group of Companies.