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Having fun can cost you your life. According to the website Ask The Odds, you have “a one in 300 million chance” of meeting your maker on a roller coaster. In the United States, there are approximately two fatalities every year that relate to amusement park rides. With that very scary thought in mind, we now present five deadly amusement park disasters to have ever occurred.
Gulliver’s World Ferris Wheel, Warrington, England
One day in July 2002 15-year-old Salma Saleem was not permitted to share a gondola with her mother on the park’s Ferris wheel. Saleem, who had the genetic disorder Down Syndrome, and her mother both earnestly pleaded with the amusement park employees to allow them to ride together even though neither of the pairs knew much English. In the end, the park employees insisted that Saleem was physically too big to ride with her mother.
The pair of women were separated and seated in different gondolas. As the Ferris wheel descended, Saleem managed to get out of her seat and dropped 20 feet to the ground below. She died from her injuries, mainly a head trauma, and an official investigation was done. Investigators report that Saleem had indeed been seated properly because the gondola’s safety bar was actually still locked.
One question still remains to this day: How did the teenage girl manage to squirm out of her gondola seat? Gulliver’s World theme park was heavily fined for both health and safety violations. Click On the Next Button to See Next.
