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From a Batman ride beheading to a water slide disaster, we count down the 10 deadliest theme
park accidents.
#10: Batman – Six Flags Over Georgia – Georgia, USA: In 2008, a 17-year-old named Asia Leeshawn
Ferguson met a terrible end. Despite warning signs posted everywhere, Ferguson entered
a restricted area of the park. Witnesses claimed Ferguson had lost his hat while on the Batman
ride and was determined to retrieve it. The roller coaster was still in operation, and
he wandered into its path. He was instantly decapitated when a train struck him.
#9: Haunted Castle – Six Flags Great Adventure – New Jersey, USA: Eight teens lost their
lives in May of 1984 when a haunted attraction burst into flames. Though most people were
able to escape, the unlucky teens succumbed and were burned beyond recognition. Arson
wasn’t ruled out as the cause of the fire. Because the owners of the park had failed
to install smoke detectors and sprinklers in the castle, they were charged with aggravated
manslaughter.
#8: Space Journey – Overseas Chinese Town East – Shenzhen, China: Space Journey is
supposed to simulate a rocket launch, but in 2010, riders got an unwanted trip back
to earth. During the course of the ride, one of the carts came loose and struck the others.
This caused some of them to plunge 50 feet to the ground. Six people died and almost
a dozen were injured. A power outage may be the culprit, but nobody knows for sure.
#7: Mindbender – Galaxyland Amusement Park – Alberta, Canada: Called “the world's
largest indoor triple loop roller coaster,” the Mindbender is located inside West Edmonton
Mall. In 1986, three people died and a fourth was seriously injured when missing bolts on
the rear car caused a train to come off the tracks. The car fishtailed, throwing off passengers
before the train crashed into a concrete pillar. The ride had been declared safe the day before
by an Alberta province safety inspector. It reopened 7 months later and has been free
of accidents ever since.
#6: Fujin Raijin II – Expoland – Osaka, Japan: 19-year-old Yoshino Kogawara was killed
instantly and 19 people were injured in 2007 when a roller coaster train derailed. It was
quickly discovered that the accident was caused by a broken axle – an axle that hadn’t
been replaced in 15 years! The park briefly reopened after the accident but eventually
closed again in December of 2007. The people in charge claimed a “lack of customers”
was the reason for the decision.
#5: Puff the Little Fire Dragon – Lagoon Amusement Park – Utah, USA: 6-year-old Ryan
Beckstead thought the ride was over when he started to wiggle out of his safety restraints,
but it was already moving again by the time he stood up. He fell four feet to the ground,
uninjured, but decided to try to climb back on. That’s when a car struck him in the
head, killing him instantly. The year was 1989.
#4: King’s Island – Ohio, USA: Three people died in the span of about an hour on a summer
day in 1991. Park employee Darrell Robertson and a second man named William Haithcoat were
trying to rescue 22-year-old Timothy Binning from a pond near the beer garden area of the
park. Haithcoat and Robertson were electrocuted and died. Binning received an electric shock
but survived. Shortly after the pond incident, a woman named Candy Taylor fell 60 feet from
the Flight Commander ride and had to be taken to the hospital. She didn’t make it.
#3: The Rat – Loudoun Castle Theme Park – Scotland: In 2007, employee Mark Blackwood
lost his life when he tried to push a car that was stuck on the track. When it started
to move again, Blackwood clung to it until he lost his grip and dropped to the ground
below. He died at the hospital. It’s believed he was visiting the park on his day off.
#2: Banzai Water Slide – Waterworld USA – California, USA: They said they wanted
to break a school record, but they ended up breaking something else. In 1997, a group
of seniors from Napa High School decided it was a good idea to cram as many people as
possible onto a 75-foot-tall water slide, despite warnings from the lifeguard. The slide
couldn’t take the weight, and it ended up collapsing. One girl died and at least 30
people suffered injuries.
#1: The Big Dipper – Battersea Park Fun Fair – London, England: In 1972, five children
were killed when a train rolled back into the station after breaking loose from its
haulage rope and struck another train. The park never recovered from the accident and
was eventually forced to close in 1974.
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