Fun park ride breakdown injures 25

2 May 2005

BRUSSELS – Twenty-five visitors to a Flanders theme park were injured when the newest ride broke down.

La Derniere Heure reported that four people had to be hospitalised after the accident on Saturday afternoon at Bobbejaanland, near Lichtaart, in Antwerp province.

The patients had whiplash injuries to their necks or nose bleeds, but were discharged a short while afterwards.

They were on Bob Express, a 520m long train with 10 wagons, which can carry up to 40 people. At some points of the ride, the train climbs up to 10m.

“The breakdown happened as the convoy set out,” said Bobbejaanland’s manager Rudi Rasschaert.

“The emergency system was initiated and the engines were cut. Usually, the train returns to the lowest part of the circuit, but because the breakdown caused a split in the convoy, the two parts came back to the same area where they crashed.”

The Red Cross gave medical attention to everyone on the ride who needed it. Most of the 25, who were slightly injured, were treated at the park’s first aid section.

Rasschaert said an investigation was under way into the cause of the failure in the new ride, in order to prevent a repeat of the accident.

He said the ride’s pieces had been regularly replaced and that it had been approved by safety authorities.

The Bob Express will be up and running again within 10 days.

Subject: Belgian news