Six people have been killed and 10 others injured when an amusement park ride plunged 50ft in China.

Part of the Overseas China Town East theme park has been closed down



The accident happened on the Space Journey simulator ride at Overseas China Town East theme park in the coastal city of Shenzen on Tuesday.

Survivors said there was a power cut and loud explosion moments before the ride dropped.

The Space Journey works by elevating and spinning 11 cabins which each carry four passengers.

It is thought one cabin came loose during a high-speed spin and hit the surrounding cabins which then plummeted to the ground.

The exact cause of the accident is not known but part of the park has been closed for safety checks.

Five of those injured were in a serious condition in hospital.

Shenzen, in the south of China, is one hour's drive from Hong Kong.

Article Can Be Found Here

Bloody hell.

What on earth.

Reading the article, and looking at the photo, something really doesn't add up here. What ride type is it? I'm guessing from the photo it's an enclosed flat ride. Sounds like it might be something like the Flying Machines at Blackpool.

But how did it manage to plunge 50ft? What the heck?

This really is awful. Those poor people.

From what I can tell it was a similar ride to Mission:Space in Epcot, Orlando. Those cabins spin very quickly so for one to come off will have caused a heck of a lot of damage.

Thats awful, theres nothing you can say to that really :/

"tamtam86" wrote:

From what I can tell it was a similar ride to Mission:Space in Epcot, Orlando. Those cabins spin very quickly so for one to come off will have caused a heck of a lot of damage.

Can't have been, the Mission:Space capsules are barely a foot or two off the ground, never mind 50ft...

Made in China?

"Kaz" wrote:

Made in China?

Fail. The key with shock humour is that it has to actually be funny to justify the offensiveness.

It was actually a serious question.

Thoughts go out to the families of the deceased :(

Stumbled across a video on youtube, showing an amateur simulation of what happened, it's pretty sick actually and it just goes to show there are some sick people out there...

"Sam" wrote:

Can't have been, the Mission:Space capsules are barely a foot or two off the ground, never mind 50ft...

It is reported by Sky News though, 1ft = 50ft to them.

This does sound awful :shock:

"Sam""][quote=""tamtam86" wrote:

From what I can tell it was a similar ride to Mission:Space in Epcot, Orlando. Those cabins spin very quickly so for one to come off will have caused a heck of a lot of damage.

Can't have been, the Mission:Space capsules are barely a foot or two off the ground, never mind 50ft...[/quote]


I have seen another news report stating that it dropped 15ft so am unsure if it was 50 or 15 at the moment.

It's such a tragic accident.

"Kaz" wrote:

Made in China?

We have had big accidents at UK parks with multiple casualties in the past as well.

"iloveshauni" wrote:

Thoughts go out to the families of the deceased :(

Stumbled across a video on youtube, showing an amateur simulation of what happened, it's pretty sick actually and it just goes to show there are some sick people out there...

I saw that video too! it seems to be made for a news artical, it's not been made very sensitivly at all! :shock:

From looking at the video it does seem like a very cheap twist on the Epcot ride which goes up and down a pole. No technical cabins just normal type ride cars, twister cars you get at the fair. attached to the frame. Not saying there's a problem with that, just describing how it looks.
Seems that one of them fell off and then would have knocked a couple as it dropped to the ground because of the speed it was going.

Just read some more:

An employee of OCT East told Guangzhou Daily that while the high-pressure chambers were spinning at high speed and at a high attitude, an explosion occurred, sending many of the chambers falling to the ground and colliding with each other, killing and injuring passengers.

Mr. Lin, a migrant worker who survived the accident, told Apple Daily that after getting out of his chamber, he witnessed other chambers hitting the ground and colliding with each other. He said it was a terrible scene, with blood and flesh everywhere.

This would suggest that they didn't all fall at once and that if a guy had the time to get out of his car and still saw them falling it could have taken a good minute.

Sad news. :(

Here is the sick video if any of you dare watch:

[spoiler:2ae1nqso]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez72xG04fsc[/spoiler:2ae1nqso]

Does anyone know what sort of ride this was? Manufacterer etc.

Here is the breaking news video, it says on there that the ride car fell 12 metres?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpL95FMr-e4&feature=related

Tragic.

I have to say, the pictures from inside the ride queue line looks quality!

It all seems a bit higgledy piggledy at the moment, I've heard all sorts. And that video I wouldn't say is so sick, its just the unnecessary crying at the end. No different to someone doing a video like that for the two towers. Or even better, no different to the film Titanic. It accurately portrays what happens. The downside is its not portrayed in a very sensitive way... :|

Can you link to some Pictures Mankey? I cant seem to find any. :)

Did a search for the ride and all I got back was news reports.

This one has more detail: [url=http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/38383/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/38383/[/url]

I'd have to point the finger at poor maintenance or cost cutting. I went to the Beijing Amusement park in 2005 and I swear that it was the most dangerous place I've ever been to. It all looked like it was going to fall to bits, especially their double corkscrew and their pirate ship. I swear that 'health & safety' is a fairly alien concept in China.

Thoughts are with the families.

"Crofty" wrote:

Can you link to some Pictures Mankey? I cant seem to find any. :)

Its in the news report video which numb3r1towersfan posted above me! :D