The water ride accident that injured seven at Cedar Point over the weekend was the second amusement park incident to happen on Friday. The other, at Six Flags Texas, left one woman dead and several passengers hysterical.
The Cedar Point accident happened when a boat on Shoot The Rapids began to slide backwards down the first incline on the ride and then flipped over, injuring seven people and sending one to the hospital. Because all the passengers were belted in, they were trapped until several onlookers and park employees jumped into the water to free them.
“We jumped in and helped them get out,” witness Matthew Orr told the Sandusky Register newspaper. “If we didn’t help, I don’t even know what would have happened.”
Park officials are investigating what made the ride malfunction.
Meanwhile, in Texas, visitors to the Six Flags in Dallas were shocked and horrified when a woman plunged to her death from the Texas Giant roller coaster. Witnesses say they believe the victim–identified over the weekend as Rosy Esparza–wasn’t properly strapped in to her seat and expressed concern to the park attendant that the restraints weren’t done correctly.
“He was basically nonchalant,” Carmen Brown, who was in line as Esparza was being strapped in, said. “He was, like, ‘As long as you heard it click, you’re fine.’ Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didn’t feel safe. But they let her still get on the ride.”
Six Flags is conducting an investigation into the death.