Woman shares Christmas fairground crash horror after plummeting from mid-air
Witnesses described hearing screams of terror as Christmas fairground ride came crashing down on Thursday, now a woman has spoken on the horror of being on the ride as it happened
A woman injured from a 180ft Christmas fairground ride crashing down with her on it, has spoken of the terrifying experience. The nightmare unravelled on Thursday evening in Birmingham, Centenary Square.
Louise Brown, a mother who works for the BBC, was on the City Starflyer swing chair ride when the ride malfunction and came down. Ms Brown suffered injuries to her face, legs and arms in the incident, and added that her colleagues were also hurt from the incident.
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Louis said: “We were on it having fun and then it just came crashing to the ground. It felt like we were descending, not at the highest point but still quite high”
“It went backwards at first through, which I’ve never seen it do before.”
West Midlands Ambulance Service issued a statement on Thursday night saying: “Two people have been taken to hospital following an incident at a fairground ride in Birmingham this evening. West Midlands Ambulance Service was called to Centenary Square at 7.29pm and sent two ambulances, five paramedic officers, a MERIT trauma doctor, critical care paramedic, two Mercia Accident Rescue Service (MARS) emergency doctors and the Trust’s Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) to the scene.”
A spokeswoman for the service commented: “On arrival, crews found 13 patients. Two women, were treated by ambulance staff for injuries not believed to be serious and conveyed to Midland Metropolitan University Hospital. “Nine women and two men were assessed by medics before being given self-care advice and discharged at the scene.”
Witnesses described hearing people screaming in terror as the ride slammed to the ground.
John Spence, 45, from Warwick, who was at the event with his wife and child said “We were near the ride when we heard screaming. It wasn’t your normal excited screams, they were screams of terror.”
“There was a loud whoosh and bang and then pandemonium. There were lots of people in hi-vis jackets running over to help people get off the ride.”
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