snoflake15 Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Hi - this was reported yesterday but didn't get a chance to post it. Here's the views of one of those involved. Tsunami is a Pinfari invert. Looking at the pictures in the media it seems the lift chain snapped leaving the ride at the top of the lift hill. The Fire Service would not lift them off so the police were forced to do it. Will try to get more info. http://breakingnews.heraldscotland.com/breaking-news/?mode=article&site=hs&id=N0312701309855418400A Passengers stuck on rollercoaster Last updated 5 Jul 2011 - 10:45 am A man trapped on a rollercoaster that stopped 60 feet above the ground has said he thought he was going to die. Sadiq Mian and his 13-year-old daughter were among nine people, aged nine to 49, when the ride came to a halt on Sunday afternoon. Some were stranded for more than eight hours at M&D's theme park at Strathclyde Country Park, Motherwell, in Lanarkshire and the last person was rescued by 12.45am on Monday. Speaking from Glasgow, Mr Mian told ITV1's Daybreak programme: "It was a really horrific experience. At first we all thought we were going to die. But once I made sure we were OK then I felt OK, really." He added: "People around me were crying and everybody was really distressed. But I was trying to re-assure them. I felt OK personally afterwards. My first thinking was that it was really horrific and that we were going to die. But I felt fine afterwards." Speaking about his daughter, he said: "She started crying and I was trying to re-assure her that we are OK. Once she found out that we were OK then she started to play with her Blackberry and she was OK. But she was crying at first and I kept calm because of her because if I had started panicking then it would have been worse for her. "There was a couple at the back of us and they started crying. The man and the woman both were crying. "They were really distressed because their 18-month-old baby they had left on the ground with a friend and the woman was really distressed and she was crying the whole length of time. I was trying to re-assure the couple in the back and the girls in the front," he added. Mr Mian said the rescue operation took some time because the fire engine called to bring people to safety could not take any people off the ride. He continued: "I found out on the ground when I came down that it was sinking into the ground. The ground was very soft for that machine. So they couldn't really do that (rescue people). Then they had to go for plan B and bring the people, the rescue police. They brought us down with the help of the ropes." On the M&D's website it states it is Scotland's "only theme park" with five "white knuckle rollercoasters" including The Tsunami, Tornado, Express, The Runaway Mine Train and The Big Apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoflake15 Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 Yesterday's article http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/theme-park-rescue-roller-coaster-rescue-after-riders-are-left-up-in-the-air-1.1110065 Theme-park rescue Roller-coaster rescue after riders are left up in the airCatriona Stewart Share 4 Jul 2011 ROLLER-coaster fans at Scotland’s largest theme park were given a longer ride than expected when a faulty lift-chain left them trapped onboard for nearly seven hours. Police and fire crews were called to North Lanarkshire’s M&D’s fairground yesterday afternoon after the roller-coaster screeched to a halt, leaving nine adults and children stranded. Safety systems on the Tsumani ride kicked into action just after 4pm when a lift chain on the ride broke, leaving passengers held in their seats by safety bars that would not open. Police began bringing people down from the ride just after 9pm, with the rescue taking more than two hours to complete. Bystanders said those stranded, including two primary children on a school trip, took the breakdown in good humour. No passengers were injured and theme-park staff climbed to the top of the roller coaster and handed out bottled water. A spokesman for M&Ds said passengers were never in any danger as the ride is designed to come safely to a halt if there is a mechanical malfunction. He added: “This is a rare occurance but we did everything possible to try and keep the passengers comfortable while our staff and the emergency services worked to resolve the issue.” Billed by the theme park as Scotland’s scariest roller-coaster, the Tsumani is an inverted roller-coaster 650 metres long, travelling of speeds up to 65kph. The ride performs corkscrew twists and loops upside down but fortunately those stuck 20 metres in the air at the top of the Tsumani were sitting upright. A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Fire and Rescue confirmed a crew attended the scene but was not required. Six people were stranded on a rollercoaster at M&Ds in 2009 for about an hour after high winds activated safety systems. The five women and a man, who were on a works funday, were stranded 40ft above the ground at the bottom of a dip on the Tornado ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoflake15 Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 Video link although not sure if this is available outside Scotland. http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-central/261223-rollercoaster-rescue-man-thought-he-was-going-to-die/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anything Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Poor effort having no proper rescue plan. Rope access takes ages to rescue people, and the police obviously would have had to work using intructions to release the harnesses, I would have thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoflake15 Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 ^ no great surprise to be honest. The passing of the buck between the police and fire service also occurred when someone felt down a mine shaft near to Loudon Castle a few years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anything Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 I understand. I've never been to the park but have heard not many great things. Surely if a suitable location could be found, a large theme park could be built between Glasgow and Edinburgh? Scotland certainly needs something and Merlin need to be more established in Scotland, and the north of Britain as a whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoflake15 Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 ^ It's pretty poor as a park. The coasters are rough as anything and there is no theming to speak of. It's more of a static fairground. It's 20 minutes away for me and I haven't been since just after Tsunami opened. I can't see Scotland getting a decent park, particularly with Loudon Castle shutting. Sadly we will have to make do with English parks for some decent rides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoopLover Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 ^ I completely agree! The park is cheap and very tatty! And twenty minutes from me too...creepy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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