VALLEJO (6/9/02)

Girl in critical condition after fall from park ride

A 4-year-old girl who fell Saturday from a ride at Six Flags Marine World is in critical condition with head injuries, officials at Children's Hospital Oakland said.

Marine World officials said the family ride -- called the Starfish -- has been closed pending a state inspection.

In a statement issued Saturday, park spokesman Jeff Jouett said the girl, whose identity has not been released, fell from a ride around noon while the ride was in motion. The girl was taken by helicopter to the Oakland hospital.

The Starfish is a spinning flat ride, manufactured by Chances Rides of Kansas, that alternately rises and falls from ground level to 12 feet in the air, Jouett said. Lap bars are supposed to be locked and checked for each rider before the ride starts.

The ride passed a state Division of Occupational Safety and Health inspection before the park opened in March, according to Jouett.

Two important points:

1. Similar or worse accidents have occurred at Disney parks in recent years.

2. Bob Pittman hasn't worked at Six Flags since 1995, while Marine World became part of the chain in 2000.

-Jeff

My heart always goes out to other parks when they have accidents. While some of them are because of negligence, many of the accidents are just flukes that really couldn't be avoided outside of shutting down all theme parks. When you think of how many people visit a theme park each year, there are far more accidents in big cities than in theme parks.

Oh, is it time to bash Bob Pittman already?

If anyone is interested, there is a big discussion about this at the LaughingPlace discussion boards. (http://www.laughingplace.com/default.asp?WCI=MsgBoard&WCE=T-20298-P-7&Refresh=0610014753)


[Moderator's note: URL identified for the benefit of the reader. --Lani]