According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, a roller coaster had derailed at a famous amusement park on Monday in Southern California. The incident has reportedly left dozens of passengers dangling 40 feet in the air on the Ninja roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Buzzfeed said that the ride appeared to have struck a nearby tree branch, which had caused the ride to come to a halt. The injuries sustained by at least four riders were minor and that the 25 people who got stranded on the ride remained lert and were corresponding with park personnel during Six Flags' evacuation process, spokeswoman Sue Carpenter for the park said. She also added that two of the four injured were transported later to a local hospital for precautionary measures.
KNBC said that firefighters were first alerted to the incident just before 6PM on Monday and called them to the Valencia, California park. Crews then were seen attempting to rescue the stranded riders in the area where the track passes under several trees. Over two and a half hours later after the incident happened, all passengers were rescued successfully from the ride.
Based on the description provided by the park's website, the Ninja roller coaster is a suspended swinging ride, and is only one of four of its kind in the US. The ride is said to pivot "with precision as you narrowly miss tagging land and water, whipping around at 55 miles per hour."
Park officials have issued a statement that the Ninja roller coaster will remain closed until a thorough inspection of the area has been completed. A photo taken purportedly by one of the passengers and was subsequently published on Reddit showed that it might take a while, as one section of the ride appeared to be mangled after it derailed.
