A popular amusement park had to be shut down after at least eight people got injured when two roller coaster vehicles crashed into one another.
The incident reportedly occurred at the Shenzhen Happy Valley theme park, in China’s southern Guangdong Province, at around 6:27 pm on 27th October.
Video footage shows the moment one roller coaster vehicle at the ‘Snowy Falcon’ ride reached the top of an uphill section when it suddenly shot back down at speed.
As it slid backwards to where it had initially set off from, it rear-ended into another roller-coaster vehicle full of passengers.
The forceful impact reportedly left at least eight visitors injured.
Other pieces of footage show many of the victims trapped in their seats and some even passed out as rescuers try to help them.
One of the victims, who was not named, told local media she and her friends were on the roller coaster when their car suddenly tilted backwards from a great height and collided with another coaster behind them.
The scene was chaotic after the accident, and the woman said: “I was just screaming. The tourists in the rows behind me were more seriously injured, with three to four people in each row.”
She added that she suffered a minor head injury, and a friend of hers also had minor injuries.
They were examined at the hospital and are in good condition.
Another witness, who was not named, said he saw two ambulances leaving Happy Valley’s entrance at around 8:30 pm.
Afterwards, the park was forced to temporarily shut down operations.
Shenzhen Happy Valley said in a statement: “The cause of the accident is under investigation, and the ride has been temporarily halted.
“The park management will conduct a comprehensive inspection of all rides in the park.”
According to the park’s website, the ‘Snowy Falcon’ ride is a “CNY-200 million [GBP-22,500] project to create the highest and longest catapult roller coaster in Asia.”
The project boasts: “Two-second acceleration, reaching a speed of 135 kilometres per hour, high-speed racing in the sky, a vertical drop of 60 metres, a crazy heartbeat throughout the 90 seconds, and a maximum acceleration of 4G.”
