- Two carriages – one empty and one containing visitors – collided today
- 16 people were involved in the crash and four were seriously injured
- Paramedics face battle to get access to those involved in the crash
- Visitors to Staffordshire park claimed ride broke down earlier today
Four people in their 20s were seriously injured today after a rollercoaster carriage carrying 16 people smashed into a second empty carriage at up to 50mph.
Visitors at Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire said the 14-loop Smiler ride had broken down earlier today, before the crash happened at about 2.10pm.
Witnesses said park bosses had sent out empty carriages to test the ride before the 16 people – including the two men and two women who suffered serious leg injuries – were allowed to board.
But the carriage involved in the accident then smashed into one of the ‘test’ carriages, which is said to have stopped on a low section of track on the two-year-old rollercoaster.
Rescue efforts were made to get to those trapped, who were 25ft up in the air at an angle of about 45 degrees – with some stuck for up to four hours before all of them were taken down by 6pm.
Scroll down for video
Rescue on the Smiler: One witness said passengers were ‘screaming and people nearby were running over’
On the scene: Rescue efforts are being made to get to those trapped on the two-year-old ride at Alton Towers
Rescuers: The accident involved a moving carriage with 16 passengers and an empty, stationary carriage
From above: An aerial view of the scene as emergency services work to rescue passengers at Alton Towers
The Smiler: A photo taken at the scene shows a carriage with injured people inside stuck to the back of the empty carriage which it crashed into. Four teenagers were seriously hurt in the crash on the Smiler ride
Firefighters on the scene: West Midlands Ambulance Service said four people were seriously injured
Witness Ben Richardson, 18, said it appeared staff had sent an empty carriage out onto the track as a test, which then got stuck before another full of people collided into it.
The quantity surveyor, from Swandlincote, Derbyshire, said: ‘I was just sitting nearby and a carriage that had got passengers in started off even though there was an empty one stuck on the track.
‘It looked like it was sent out as a test and this carriage with people on went out and smashed into the back of it. The one with passengers had just come out of an inversion.
‘So it was like a horrific high-speed car crash. I saw it all, there was a huge bump and when they came together they both crumpled because it was metal-on-metal at a high speed.
‘No-one got thrown out, it was too far to see injuries but definitely they would have all had very bad whiplash at least. The passengers were screaming and people nearby were running over.
‘The Alton Towers staff quickly moved people away from the area so we haven’t been able to go anywhere near it since.’
Help on its way: TV helicopter footage showed rescue crews removing those stuck on the rollercoaster
Scary: Passengers were seen being loaded onto stretchers as they hung at 45 degrees to the ground, 25ft up
Leave a Reply