dandaman Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 MONTREAL (CBC) - Twenty-eight people trapped on a roller-coaster that stopped unexpectedly at Montreal's La Ronde amusement park Monday were finally rescued by firefighters after spending close to an hour perched on the famous wood attraction. The roller-coaster was climbing a steep peak on the Monstre track around 2 p.m. when the train suddenly stopped midway up the hill. A specialized squad of firefighters was called to the scene to assist the trapped thrill-seekers, who were mostly children. They were helped off the roller-coaster with harnesses and cables during the rescue mission, which took about an hour. No one was hurt. Le Monstre is the world's tallest two-track, wooden roller-coaster, with lap bar-reinforced seats. It's not the first time riders have been stuck on the roller coaster. In 1999, nearly 30 people spent half an hour stranded on Le Monstre when the train motor failed. La Ronde opened for the summer season on Saturday. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/090518/canada/canada_montreal_montreal_laronde_monstre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Seriously, are they really "stranded" when it's only 30 minutes or an hour??? I hate the press. --Robb "Been stuck in traffic longer than that..." Alvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandaman Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 ^"Thousands were trapped on Los Angeles freeways this afternoon, annoying the hell out of motorists and confirming rumours of a slow news day." The article says the train was climbing a steep peak... if it was the lift hill, it seems ridiculous as a news item to begin with, but if not, then those firefighters worked damned fast anyway! Dan "Coming up next on CBC: Are amusement parks safe? Fearmongering at 11" Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBru Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 It sounds like the train stopped on the lift hill... So why couldn't riders just be evacuated down the catwalks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 ^The article doesn't confirm that though, so it sounds like it was somewhere else around the track where the access to escape in an emergency needs some extra assistance. But yeah, slow newsday or what! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franc Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 No, it wasn't on the lift hill. I'll find a picture. Edit: http://lcn.canoe.ca/cgi-bin/player/video.cgi?file=/lcn/actualite/faits_divers/20090518_seguin18.wmv Here you go, at 42 seconds, you have footage. I'm trying to find the original video on YouTube, but I can't find it And just to give you an idea, here, in the Province of Quebec, a small thing may become the next big story. It's ridiculous. And today was a National Holiday, so there probably wasn't any interesting stories... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kennyweird Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 when the train motor failed. Perhaps they meant "lift hill motor". I hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemmy Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 No, it wasn't on the lift hill.I'll find a picture. Edit: http://lcn.canoe.ca/cgi-bin/player/video.cgi?file=/lcn/actualite/faits_divers/20090518_seguin18.wmv Here you go, at 42 seconds, you have footage. I'm trying to find the original video on YouTube, but I can't find it And just to give you an idea, here, in the Province of Quebec, a small thing may become the next big story. It's ridiculous. And today was a National Holiday, so there probably wasn't any interesting stories... No idea what the passengers were saying, but they seemed happy they got an evac I know I would be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCW_Nut Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 So it appears it valleyed....hmmm, odd...either way...it does appear to be a slow news day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiSab Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I must say your "Le Oops..." had me . It seems weird that they did a full-on evac for the ride, though. From what i can tell about it, it looks to have catwalks on at least one side of the tracks throughout the ride. Why didn't they just have the riders walk the ride on those, especially since it looks like there isn't much height after where it valleyed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceace12 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 So it appears it valleyed....hmmm, odd...either way...it does appear to be a slow news day. If that market is anything like my station, days are slow news wise around now for some reason. We don't like to run national news in our local newscasts. As far as news stations over hyping....I somewhat agree, but I only see it every once in a while at my station (particularly with severe weather, but I am production so nothing I can say or do about it). But that is what most of the general public thrives, you would be surprised on ratings when there is breaking news or big news in a newscasts (well, at my station since we kill the only other station in town). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absimilliard Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 The rather interesting thing here: La Ronde management dispatched their "future cops" security team to crack down on any photos or footage of the incident. They demanded that anyone with suspicious pictures or footage delete them or get kicked out of the park with no refund! The Future Cops comment is because, for some reason, instead of hiring experienced security agents, they hire college students who are majoring in police tech... Since police tech is the hardest major to get into in Quebec, a lot of them are very arrogant and feel rather superior since they "made it" in police tech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franc Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I just read an article from Le Journal de Montréal (link at the bottom, in French). It is mentionned that about 30 guests had to delete pictures that they had taken, and even some that were taken before their day at the park. When asked about the reasons, the spokeman for La Ronde said it was for security reasons that they did not allow anyone around the roller coaster, but that there was no policy about not having the right to take pictures at the park. However, the firefighters that were on place never asked for the journalists and TV stations to be kept outside of the park. http://www.canoe.com/infos/societe/archives/2009/05/20090519-081400.html Edit: The train was 50 feet above the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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