A boy was rushed to hospital with 'traumatic injuries' after falling around 20 feet from a rollercoaster in Florida.
According to NBC a six-year-old child was taken to hospital after falling from the Galaxy Spin ride at Fun Spot America, Kissimmee, Florida.
The boy fell on Thursday (3 August) afternoon, with Osceola County Fire Rescue and EMS Office saying that emergency responders arrived at the theme park in the Orlando area to find the child with 'traumatic injuries' and 'under the rollercoaster track' which had been about 20 feet above him.
He was then taken to Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, and the rollercoaster ride was closed as part of an investigation into how this tragic incident occurred.
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The theme park said they would not be reopening the ride until they were sure another incident like this would not happen again, and that a preliminary inspection of the rollercoaster by state officials 'found it to be in normal operating condition with no mechanical issues'.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the child and their family, and we pray for a speedy recovery. The safety of our guests is our number one priority," Fun Spot said in a statement.
The Galaxy Spin ride is described by the park as a 'wild mouse style' rollercoaster where up to four people can sit in a cart together that spins as it moves around the track.
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The rollercoaster can reach speeds of up to 29 mph and can subject riders to two-and-a-half times the force of gravity while they ride it.
While many thousands of people enjoy rollercoaster rides each and every day, there are unfortunately some incidents where rider safety comes under threat.
A rollercoaster at a park in North Carolina shut down recently after a guest noticed that one of the ride's support pillars had a large crack in it.
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Fortunately, nobody had been injured by the damage suffered by the ride before it was noticed and shut down.
Emergency services were recently called to another theme park in Wisconsin after a ride broke down while the cart was upside-down on a loop, leaving guests stranded the wrong way up for as much as three hours before they could be rescued.
Oddly enough, the rollercoaster got popular in the US because a man who made his fortune making women's stockings thought they'd keep people out of the devilish clutches of Satan.
Joe Harker