robbalvey Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,270154,00.html TOKYO — A roller coaster traveling at up to 46 miles per hour hit a guardrail at an amusement park in western Japan on Saturday, killing one person and injuring 21 others, officials and a media report said Saturday. At least two people suffered serious injuries, Kyodo News agency reported. Osaka police official Kaoru Tanaka said a woman was killed, but it was not immediately clear how seriously the 21 others were hurt. The accident occurred at Expoland in Osaka, which is 255 miles west of Tokyo. It happened amid Japan's "Golden Week" holiday, when many families pack amusement parks and other tourist sites. The park was closed following the accident, according to park official Kazuhiro Shiba, adding that officials were investigating. The stand-up roller coaster could hold up to 24 passengers and travel at up to 47 miles per hour, Shiba said. Kyodo said the roller coaster hit a guardrail. Expoland opened as the amusement zone for the 1970 International Exposition held in Osaka. Here's another version of the story: http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070505p2a00m0na012000c.html SUITA, Osaka -- A woman died when the seats of the roller coaster she was riding in fell off at the Expoland amusement park here on Saturday afternoon, police said. Three seats fell off the rollercoaster at about 1 p.m. An adult female died after being thrown violently against a fence. At least 40 people -- including two other passengers whose seats came off -- were injured, and 31 of them were rushed to hospital. Local firefighters set up a rescue point at the amusement park and are treating some of the wounded. The roller coaster runs at up to 75 kilometers per hour on a 1,050-meter-long, 40-meter-high course. (Mainichi) expoland.wmv Video blurb from the Today Show Another more detailed diagram of the accident. Layout of the ride showing where the assembly broke, where chick hit, and where train came to rest. Photo of where the Broken Off Wheel Assembly landed. expoland.wmv Video from NHK - Japanese TV network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janster Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 This news even reached the 9.00 a.m. radio news in the Netherlands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDG Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Looks like the second car (partially) derailed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 We just got a brief report of it, thru BBC Newsworld on TV. Here in Amsterdam. (still here until Thurs.) Hmmm. Makes the upcoming TPR Japan Tour kinda.... ...more interesting, hmmm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Upsidedown Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Looks similar the the Wild Thing accident. The article says an axle broke, that looks like the car came off the wheel boggey instead. Do the TOGOs actually have an axle like a car or are the wheel boggies seperate from each other.,. Checked some photos and they look to be seperate wheel boggies,. Thats my worst fear while riding, the car coming off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDG Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 An adult female died after being thrown violently against a fence. Basically, the cause of the death is that bloody walkway alongside Japanese roller coasters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théo the little french Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 That's completely crazy!! In one month there were 4 accidents (with this one): -2 in France: the first was during the "Foire du Trône" (sorry I can't translate this name) and the second in Bal Parc -1 in Legoland (was it in Denmark? I don't remember) -and to finish this one!! Where is going the world? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Upsidedown Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=5f3566ec-73ad-440d-84ba-f0ea1002abee&k=84888 Another photo in this article from closer to the train. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Every media outlet seems to have a different version of this, I'm wondering just what's true. The caption on one site for the picture Robb posted at the top states that the part of the train "from which the seats fell off" is covered by the sheet, but then what's going on with that second car?? Also wondering what it means by "seats"... The only stand-up I've ridden is Shockwave at Drayton Manor, and assuming the restraints are always somewhat similar, I can't figure out what could happen to allow somebody to be thrown from those. Not that I trust the media anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 The caption on one site for the picture Robb posted at the top states that the part of the train "from which the seats fell off" is covered by the sheet, but then what's going on with that second car?? That sheet is probably covering up where the car impacted the guard rail. The de-railed car is probably just where the train finally stopped. I'd imagine the impact was probably pretty gruesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 The caption on one site for the picture Robb posted at the top states that the part of the train "from which the seats fell off" is covered by the sheet, but then what's going on with that second car?? That sheet is probably covering up where the car impacted the guard rail. The de-railed car is probably just where the train finally stopped. I'd imagine the impact was probably pretty gruesome. Ah, that makes more sense, understood. Very tragic, I feel for the deceased's family. Just showed this to my mum. "But, but, Robb and Elissa won't still take you all there will they? Not after this?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 ^Hmm--your parents obviously don't know this site very well, do they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Wow, that's pretty sad....and of all coasters, it would be a Togo haha. Death machines. hmm hit a guard rail, that's kinda odd because you would think that is something they would have checked. Is Golden Week their opening weekend? Wow, great start to the 2007 season! They should have all ben riding Rap...I mean Orochi , it's the white one too! Looks like it pretty much derailed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gutterflower Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Theres a news report with some shots of the incident on this site http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/videonews/fnn/20070505/20070505-00000102-fnn-soci.html These 2 images show the scene in more detail. although its hard to see the impact point. I assume the death occured in that front left seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Fan Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 In this one - http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/img/MM20070505151241738L0.jpg I think the body is under the blue tarp (and fuzzed out a bit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imbordisux Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 The whole "seats fell off" line had me puzzled for a second - made it sound like the actual seats came unscrewed from the base, now I see that it was a derailing. Anyway, wow, what a horrible story. Really makes us all realize just how helpless we are when riding; we're completely strapped in, unable to move, and if something goes wrong, all we can do is anticipate the impact. Scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 There have long been stories about the King Cobra at Kings Island de-railing shortly after it opened 1984, but with no fatalities. I've searched long and hard, but can't find any sources reporting about this supposed accident. Of course, this was so long ago that any sort of news story would be hard to find. I wonder if this points to some sort of design flaw in the Togo coasters, which doesn't exactly make sense as they've been running for decades without serious issues. If there is a design flaw, I think we'll see the rapid death of the Togo death machines in the very near future. Anyway, this is very sad. This is about the last thing you expect to happen when you to to a park for a day of fun. Although it's obviously worse for the woman who died, imagine the horror of the other passengers on that train- being banged up and trapped on a train next to some serious real life gore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterNut17 Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Where's the guard rail that it hit? Is that what caused the derailment also? All the people look so calm in the train... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaparri Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 ^I think by guardrail, they mean the railing on the brake run. That's my interpretation at least. This is all pretty crazy. Really sad. The couple in the first row of the third car really tell the story of what the scene was probably like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Fan Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 It wasnt on the brake run. Most togo coasters (and coasters in asia have walkways with handrails around the full ride. Not just lifts and brakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaparri Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 ^Oh yeah, good call. I just now noticed that there aren't even any brakes in the section of track the train is at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olsor Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 There have long been stories about the King Cobra at Kings Island de-railing shortly after it opened 1984, but with no fatalities. I've searched long and hard, but can't find any sources reporting about this supposed accident. Of course, this was so long ago that any sort of news story would be hard to find. Yep - one of the cars in King Cobra derailed in the helix in August 1984. I've got a clipping from the Chicago Tribune article on it from the following day. The car didn't separate from the train, and the train just slowed to a stop close to the ground. Eight were injured, but there were no fatalities. It was somewhat noteworthy because that accident happened at the same time Rail Blazer was just reopening after its fatal accident in July. The Tribune ran an article about each that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemmy Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Dang, that sucks. I hate bad media for coasters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 You can see in some of our pictures of the ride: http://www.themeparkreview.com/photos/expoland/fujinraijin2.htm That the guardrail isn't on the entire circuit. So if the car derailed at a fast point during the ride, then all of a sudden here comes that guardrail, yeah, the chick died pretty fast. Scary that this happened...especially in Japan. On the really freaky coincidence front...a group of us were doing some Japan Trip planning last night and spend a considerable amount of time working on some Expoland options, train schedules, and ERT stuff! Really creepy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Yep - one of the cars in King Cobra derailed in the helix in August 1984. I've got a clipping from the Chicago Tribune article on it from the following day. The car didn't separate from the train, and the train just slowed to a stop close to the ground. Eight were injured, but there were no fatalities. It was somewhat noteworthy because that accident happened at the same time Rail Blazer was just reopening after its fatal accident in July. The Tribune ran an article about each that day. If you get a moment, would you mind scanning it and posting it here? There are so many apocryphal coaster accident stories, but this one I've always supposed to be true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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