Chennai: Joy turned into an ordeal in Tamil Nadu's capital Chennai on Tuesday evening after over 30 people, including eight children, were stranded mid-air, almost 50 feet above the ground, for around three hours as the roller coaster on which they were enjoying a ride got stuck. The incident took place on Chennai’s East Coast Road in the Injambakkam area at around 6 pm.
The ride named "top gun" abruptly stopped after a loud noise, reported The Times of India. Panic gripped the people on the ride. Initially, employees at the amusement park reportedly tried to rescue the people stuck at the top of the ride using an on-site crane. However, they failed.
Authorities were then informed. As per the TOI report, a rescue team from Guindy was dispatched using a sky-lift vehicle. Notably, this vehicle is capable of extending up to 150 feet. The rescue operation which began at around 8:30 pm lasted for about an hour.
A visibly shaken man said he used his mobile phone and Instagram account to seek police help, reported news agency PTI.
"We got a call at 7.20 pm that 36 people were stuck in a fun ride called 'Top Gun'. After our initial attempts to rescue them with a ladder failed, we engaged two sky lifts to safely bring them down one by one," district fire officer Loganathan told reporters.
First aid was provided to the people rescued from the ride. No serious injury was reported. Adyar deputy commissioner of police Pon Karthik Kumar supervised the rescue operation.
A case has been registered in the matter and a detailed investigation has been launched. As per the initial findings, it was revealed that the ride was not properly maintained. The people who were stranded took to social media to complain about the amusement park's lack of preparedness to tackle any emergency situation.
