Two people were killed and at least 26 others were injured on Sunday when a joyride at an adventure park in Ahmedabad in Gujarat crashed, The Indian Express reported. The incident took place at the Balvatika Amusement Park in Kankaria.
Unidentified officials said “Discovery”, a joyride in the form of a pendulum, which seats 31 people, crashed around 4.50 pm on Sunday. The base of the ride, a circular frame on which people are seated, is suspended on a pole, which snapped and crashed onto the ground.
Manali Rajvadi, 24, a resident of CTM, and Mohammed Zahid Momin, 22, a resident of Danilimda were declared dead at the LG Hospital, The Times of India reported. The injured are in the age groups of 16 to 26 years, officials at the hospital said.
MF Dastoor, chief fire officer of Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services, said prima facie it appeared that the load bearing cable attached to the main frame snapped. “The ride works when the main shaft having the seats at the circular end gets counter-balanced by a weight,” Dastoor said. “As the cable got snapped, the welding on the shaft also came off and the ride got lowered. Forensic science experts will investigate the reason why the cable snapped.”
Additional Chief Fire Officer of Ahmedabad Rajesh Bhatt said the contract for the joyride in the amusement park was given to Superstar Amusement Private Limited. “We are collecting information regarding the ride’s individual parts, how were they assembled and the sequence of assembling to understand more about the mishap,” said Bhatt, according to The Indian Express.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani ordered an inquiry into the accident and assured action against those responsible. The chief minister also asked Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to provide free treatment to all the injured.
Home Minister Pradipsinh Jadeja, who visited the injured at LG Hospital, said an inquiry is under way to find if the amusement park had the necessary licence and approval to operate the joyride “The maintenance of the joyride is being checked by Forensic Science Laboratory,” said Jadeja.
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