North Rhine-Westphalia
Swing carousel gets stuck during operation – passengers trapped at a height of 30 meters
The chain carousel with guests at a height of 30 meters
© DPA
Fun and thrills quickly turn into real danger: because a chain carousel in North Rhine-Westphalia gave up the ghost while it was being driven, the fire brigade had to come out.
Of course, chain carousels are basically not for people who are afraid of heights. In an incident in Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia, however, even intrepid passengers must have wrestled with their nerves.
There, on Saturday at a fair, a chain carousel suddenly failed while driving: forwards, backwards, in a circle – nothing worked anymore. And even lowering the carousel was no longer possible, as a police spokesman said on Sunday. An uncomfortable situation for 24 people: They had been looking forward to a ride, but now got stuck at a height of around 30 meters.
Chairousel passengers rescued from a dizzy height
However, the visitors had at least a bit of luck together with the fire brigade: Their turntable ladders are designed for a maximum height of 30 meters. Since the seat shells hovered just under 30 meters above the ground, the height of the two turntable ladder vehicles was just enough and the visitors could be safely freed from their uncomfortable position. If the carousel had been even higher, the people would not have been able to be rescued.
There were no injuries during the operation, but the visitors had to be patient: Since all passengers were brought down individually, the last passenger had to wait a proud 75 minutes in freezing temperatures just above zero degrees Celsius for rescue.
Nonetheless, no one panicked, as a police spokesman said: “Everyone stayed calm and level-headed and patiently waited for help.” The exact cause of the defect is now to be examined technically.
Sources:“tonight.de”, “Picture”