Amusement Park Ride Malfunction Injures 23 in Saudi Arabia

Social media is buzzing with videos showing a terrifying incident at an amusement park in Saudi Arabia, where a ride malfunctioned and threw riders to the ground.

On Thursday, at Green Mountain Park in Teif, a “360-degree” ride malfunctioned, resulting in injuries to at least 23 individuals, with three suffering serious harm, according to reports. Eyewitness accounts describe hearing cheers morph into screams of horror as the ride collapsed.

One video captures the moment just before a pendulum ride snaps in half, crashing into a support beam and then hitting the ground. The sudden transition from excitement to panic was apparent in the footage shared widely online.

Witnesses also reported that passengers were injured when the poles recoiled rapidly. It seems that other riders fell while still secured in their seats, intensifying the chaos of the moment. Emergency services promptly arrived to aid the victims, and an investigation into the incident is currently underway.

Several hospitals in Taif are treating those injured, and a Code Yellow emergency was declared as victims were admitted, as stated by local news sources.

While ride malfunctions aren’t extremely common, they do occur from time to time. For instance, in November 2023, a rider at Universal Studios in Orlando became stuck in a vertical position on a roller coaster for nearly an hour due to a malfunction.

In another incident in the UK in December 2022, a passenger on a slingshot ride was left dangling in the air after a cord malfunction. Thankfully, that situation didn’t lead to any injuries.

Interestingly, experts noted a downward trend in accidents at recreational parks in recent years, stating that North America has seen a consistent reduction in injuries. In 2023, only 8% of injuries were classified as severe, down by 19% from the previous year.