Boy plummets 30 feet from roller coaster at theme park

A mom “screamed hysterically” as her 6-year-old son dangled from a roller coaster Thursday before falling 30 feet to the ground.

Stunned eyewitnesses reported seeing the boy fall from the Twister ride at Lightwater Valley theme park in the UK.

One witness said the child “slid out and over the top of the carriage” before falling “30 feet to the ground.”

Simon Moran, a dad who was visiting the park at the time, tweeted: “Just saw a kid fall off the Twister roller coaster at Lightwater Valley. He mustn’t have been strapped in right, or too small for the ride.

“As it went down the fast bit towards the ‘souvenir’ camera, he slid out and over the top of the carriage.

“Fell face down about 20/30ft to the ground.”

Cops and the ambulance service rushed to the scene and the ride was shut down following the incident.

The boy was transported to a local hospital and is being treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Passengers are strapped into the ride by a lap bar and one witness said he saw the boy was outside of the harness.

A police officer who went on the ride yesterday claimed he and his son were “given the option” to wear an extra safety belt.

Mark Charnley, 46, was at the park with his wife and two daughters when he saw the boy hanging backward from the carriage as his mom cried out.

“We looked up and saw a young lad he was hanging backwards outside of the actual carriage. He’d obviously got himself out of his restraint somehow and seconds after that he actually fell out of the actual carriage to the floor,” Charnley told Sky News. “Everybody in the queue started shouting to the operator of the ride to shut it down because he hadn’t actually noticed what had gone on.

He added: “Maybe 10, 12 seconds after that he actually realized what had happened to close the machine down.”

The Twister ride has been closed but the rest of the park remains open.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Police were called to reports of a medical incident involving a child at Lightwater Valley theme park near Ripon at 11.30 a.m. today.

“The child, a 6-year-old boy, who was conscious when officers arrived at the scene, has been taken to hospital. His condition is not believed to be life-threatening.

“The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has been notified. Officers remain at the scene.”

Lightwater Valley said in a statement: “We can confirm that following an incident on one of our rides this morning, a child is receiving treatment at a local hospital. The ride remains closed at the current time but the rest of the park is still open. We will issue an update as soon as we have any more information.”

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