Forty people are left stranded 20ft in the air for three hours at Chessington World of Adventures after Rameses Revenge ride breaks down

Riders - including 25 children - became trapped at theme park in Surrey
Mechanical failure yesterday saw 39 riders trapped in safety restraints
London Fire Brigade got everyone out with specialist cutting equipment
Chessington: 'We are very sorry for discomfort our guests experienced'

By MARK DUELL

Trapped: This image was taken by Simon Speller, who was stuck on the ride in Chessington, Surrey, yesterday

A broken theme park ride left thrill seekers, many of them children, stranded in mid-air for up to two hours.
Fire crews had to cut 39 people from safety restraints last night as they hung 20ft in the air on the Rameses Revenge ride.
Riders, including 25 children, are believed to have become trapped on the attraction at Chessington World of Adventures, Surrey.

Stuck: The fault was caused by a mechanical failure which saw the riders trapped in their harnesses

The fault was caused by a mechanical failure which saw the riders trapped in their harnesses. The London Fire Brigade managed to get everyone off by 7:30pm with specialist cutting equipment.
Nobody was injured but several were said to be ‘agitated and stressed’.
It is thought staff tried to restart the ride before calling 999 at 5.20pm. It then took two hours to free riders as staff handed up sunscreen and water.

In air: The Rameses Revenge ride (file picture) sits in the Forbidden Kingdom area of the £43-per-person park

Justin Coo, of London Fire Brigade, said children as young as eight were likely to have been trapped, but due to a minimum height requirement of 4ft 7in there were not thought to be any younger children.
Mr Coo said at 7pm that there were around 15 people left on the ride - and half an hour later the fire service had confirmed that everyone had been rescued.
He added that Chessington had been looking after the riders - ‘feeding and watering them’ - while park staff tried to release all 39 themselves, before they decided to call the fire brigade.

Break down: Officials at the park - which was founded as a zoo in 1931 on the grounds of a country mansion, before reopening as a theme park in 1987 - confirmed the attraction would be open tomorrow

He told Sky News: ‘As to how it happened, it's a mechanical failure. We've only got about 15 people remaining on the ride. They had been there for about two hours before.
‘We've had one minor asthma attack. We had 39 in total on the ride, and I would suggest that two thirds of those were children - probably from about age eight upwards.’
‘We can confirm that there has been the failure and we're using our dedicated cutters. They (Chessington) were looking to have a mechanical solution themselves - and they asked us to attend.’



source: dailymail
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