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May 22, 2006 8:50 am US/Central
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Riders Shaken By Wild Thing Accident
(AP)
Eighteen people suffered minor injuries in an accident on the Wild Thing roller coaster at the Valleyfair amusement park Sunday, authorities and park officials said.
Fifteen people were treated at St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Shakopee, while three refused medical attention, officials said. Fourteen were taken to St. Francis by ambulance and one later arrived by a private vehicle at urgent care.
The 15 suffered mostly strains and sprains but no broken bones, and they were all treated and released by 8:30 p.m., hospital spokeswoman Lori Manke said.
"They're all doing very, very well," she said.
A park spokesman said the cause of the accident wasn't immediately determined.
The rear car on one of the roller coaster's ride trains separated from the others about 4:25 p.m. at a point where the trains slow down as they enter the ride station, Valleyfair spokesman Bill Von Bank said. The Wild Thing reaches speeds of up to 74 mph, but it would have been braking and going much slower at that point, he said.
The car came to rest tipped on its side on a platform along the track but did not fall to the ground. Park officials covered it with an orange tarp. The rear car of those that remained attached to the train appeared from aerial video to be slightly off the track.
Bailey Merchant, 12, of Shakopee, said she was in the rear car when the car in front of her started jerking and smoking. She said that car then "fell right off the track and made the last car turn over."
As she left the hospital Sunday evening, Merchant said she fell out of the car but her friend was stuck, so she helped her get out. Then they ran off, she said.
But when her friend realized she was missing her hat, they went back to the ride. Merchant said a police officer on the scene asked them if they'd been in the accident.
"We were jerked and twisted and it started to hurt really badly," she said.
Merchant said she was told she'd be sore Monday. Her mother, Tracy Theis, said she learned of the accident in a call on her cell phone from a nurse at St. Francis.
"It's very scary," she said. "You don't ever want to get that phone call."
Katelyn Churchich, 16, of Oakdale, said she was in the second car from the rear when it happened.
"It started jerking and moving around, like, not right," she said. "We kind of heard scratching and we didn't know anything was wrong until we smelled metal grinding with each other, and then when we looked back one of the cars was tilted on its side."
People were screaming, crying, jumping out and running away, she said.
Nicole Triplett, 20, of Apple Valley, was in the first row of the back car with her boyfriend when it happened, and said she must have passed out.
"I remember waking up and looking at him and the other cart," she said.
Triplett said hospital staff took x-rays and told her not to go to work Monday because she had probably suffered a mild concussion.
Valleyfair, which is owned by Cedar Fair LP, of Sandusky, Ohio, said its maintenance officials were investigating the accident, but that it was too early to determine why the car separated from the others.
Von Bank said the Wild Thing had been in operation for 10 years without any similar problems.
However, the park issued a statement later saying two sensor faults caused the computerized safety system to shut down the ride twice on Saturday. Both times, it said, maintenance staff found no problems and the ride was reopened. The ride was shut down for 10 minutes at 2:43 p.m. Sunday for a routine afternoon inspection but no problems were noted, the statement said.
The statement also noted an unrelated incident in 1997 when a part failed on a lift chain that pulls trains to the top of the first hill. There were no injuries then.
Valleyfair will contact testing companies, the ride manufacturer and independent consultants as it investigates, Von Bank said.
The Wild Thing will remain closed until further notice, but it's not clear how long that will be, the spokesman said. The amusement park itself remained open.
Merchant said the accident won't keep her from returning to the amusement park, "but probably not that ride ever again, because I love Valleyfair."
Churchich, who was treated for neck and back pains, said that not only would she go back, she'd ride the Wild Thing again.
"I think that it was a one in a million chance, and I just happened to be there. But we all got kind of lucky because no one died or anything," she said.
But Triplett said she's had enough.
"I will never go on a ride ever again in my life," she vowed.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)