Two dozen rescued after being stranded on
California roller coaster
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[July 08, 2014]
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two dozen
people, four of them slightly injured, were left stranded high off the
ground after a roller coaster ride struck a tree branch at a Six Flags
amusement park in southern California on Monday evening, fire officials
said.
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The Ninja roller coaster, which races at highway speeds suspended
from an elevated track, stalled about 20 to 30 feet in the air,
leaving some of its occupants trapped in the ride's open cars for
more than two hours before they were rescued.
The trouble at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita,
California, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Los Angeles, started
at about 6 p.m. local time when the ride struck a branch of an
adjacent tree, Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman Michael
Pittman said.
Department spokesman Ed Pickett said the last of the 24 riders
stranded by the mishap were extricated by about 8:30 p.m.
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Local media footage showed rescuers in hard hats working from an
elevated platform and a perch atop the ride's support beams aiding
the roller coaster's occupants, one of whom could be seen gripping a
safety harness.
The park said on its website that the Ninja was temporarily closed
after the accident. Park officials did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.
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"Ninja pivots with precision as you narrowly miss tagging land and
water, whipping around at 55 miles per hour," according to the
website, which describes the suspended, swinging roller coaster as
one of only four such rides in the United States.
Four of the riders suffered minor injuries and two of them were sent
to a hospital for treatment, Pickett said.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting and
writing by Eric M. Johnson from Seattle; Editing by Matt Driskill)
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