Park closed after 8 injured in Shenzhen roller coaster crash
The scene of the incident.
After a roller coaster crash at Shenzhen Happy Valley, the amusement park will be closed on October 28 and 29 for safety checks, with ticket refunds available for visitors, according to the park's latest notice.
Around 6:27pm on Friday, the "Snowy Eagle" roller coaster at Shenzhen Happy Valley had a rear-end collision, resulting in 8 injuries. The injured have all been taken to hospitals, and they're in stable condition.
Someone who experienced the accident told the Beijing News, "I was sitting in the third-to-last row of the roller coaster, and as the ride had just started on an uphill section, it suddenly zoomed downhill fast, and everyone around me was screaming."
"I now have a slight headache, but the people in the two rows behind me have more serious injuries," she added.
The reverse moment of the roller coaster that had gone uphill.
Another witness told Hubei Daily that when the accident happened, one roller coaster with passengers onboard was about to release them at the starting point.
"Suddenly, I saw another roller coaster that had already taken off stop for a few seconds at the highest point of the track, then back up, and after about ten seconds, it crashed into the roller coaster at the starting point," he said.
According to the Beijing News, four of the injured individuals are in the ICU at the Hong Kong University-Shenzhen Hospital.
The amusement park's notice states that the cause of the accident is still under investigation.
The roller coaster involved in the incident, called "Snowy Eagle," was built in 2012 and worth 200 million yuan (US$27 million). It is one of Asia's tallest and longest catapult roller coaster, as stated on the park's website.
It boasted a staggering speed of 135 kilometers per hour in a mere 2 seconds, a jaw-dropping 60-meter drop, and an adrenaline-pumping 90-second ride with a maximum 4G acceleration.
The "Snowy Eagle" roller coaster at Shenzhen Happy Valley.
