Riders injured at Kings Island - 9 juli 2006
BY EILEEN KELLEY, DAN KLEPAL AND JESSICA BROWN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
MASON - Instead of seeing people high-five one another and shriek with laughter after their ride on Son of Beast, 20-year-old Troy O'Dell saw people bleeding from their mouths. He saw people hunched over in pain. Others, he said, showed signs that they were having trouble breathing.
Something was clearly wrong. The Paramount's Kings Island ride, touted as the world's fastest and tallest wooden roller coaster, came to a halt at 4:45 p.m. Sunday.
At least 27 people were treated at hospitals after what some described as an above-normal jolt on the track.
"It didn't stop. It felt like we hit something or jumped the track," said Weldon Shaffer, 34, of Circleville.
Shaffer said the jolt happened after the coaster came out of a deep drop and was heading for a loop. Son of Beast is also promoted on the Kings Island Web site as the only wooden roller coaster in the world that loops around.
After the jolt, the mood changed.
"Everyone was screaming before that," Shaffer said. "Then (after the jolt) it was complete silence the rest of the ride."
Shaffer was treated and released from Bethesda North Hospital in Montgomery. He was joined at the hospital by 11 other roller-coaster riders. His injuries and welts from the ride's chest restraint appeared to be typical of the injuries suffered by others.
"It's mostly bumps and bruises," said Joe Kelley, a spokesman for Bethesda. By 9:30 p.m., 20 of the 27 known patients at area hospitals were treated and released, officials said.
Not everyone was as lucky.
Shaffer's sister-in-law Crissie Lorick, 29, suffered a broken chest bone. She was going to be spending the night at the hospital.
A few others like Lorick couldn't walk and had to be removed by stretcher.
Bethesda Medical Center at Arrow Springs saw 10 patients. All were expected to be released late Sunday. It was unclear where the additional five patients were treated. The ride holds 36 people.
The malfunction apparently put a halt - at least temporarily - to some neighboring rides.
It was not immediately known if Son of Beast would be open today.
Kings Island spokeswoman Maureen Kaiser said the ride had been inspected Sunday morning before the park opened.
State inspectors were notified and were expected to begin an investigation this morning.
After the incident, families slowly poured out of the park.
Some were visibly shaken by what they saw.
"Our friend was on it," said a teary-eyed Alisha Wright, 12, of Monroe. She and friends Kristen Walters, 12, who is visiting from Myrtle Beach, and Destiny Clontz, 12, of Middletown were next in line for Son of Beast, their favorite ride.
"They (park officials) said 'Get back.' Next thing we know they were carrying her out on a stretcher."
The girls said they saw some people in neck braces and some on stretchers. They were frantic about their friends and thankful they hadn't been farther up in line.
They said a park worker told them the metal loop had become slightly dislodged from the wooden part of the track. Officials could not confirm that.
The girls said that although it's a little bumpy, the Son of Beast is their favorite ride. Now, they say they'll never ride it again.
Other parkgoers weren't so easily deterred.
"No doubt," said Eric Ross, 13, of Loveland, when asked if he would get on Son of Beast if it re-opens. He was planning to ride the coaster for the first time Sunday night. He and his friend Jake Cornett, 13, also of Loveland, were riding the nearby Drop Zone when they heard the ambulances.
"We looked down and we saw people being carried away on stretchers," Jake said.
Source: The Enquirer
