One person is dead, and seven others are injured after a carnival ride malfunctioned on the opening night of the Ohio State Fair in Columbus on Wednesday.
An 18-year-old man died after being thrown from the Fire Ball ride, Columbus Division of Fire's Battalion Chief, Steve Martin, said. One row of seats "snapped off" the ride and tossed some victims into the air.
Five adults are critically injured, and two people are in stable condition, Columbus's NBC4 reported. A 13-year-old girl is among those injured.
Another KMG Ride Death
Amusements of America provided the rides for the Ohio State Fair.
The Fire Ball is classified as an "aggressive thrill" on their website.
"The Fire Ball swings riders 40' above the midway while spinning them at 13 revolutions per minute," the website said.
The Fire Ball was manufactured by KMG, a fairground attraction company in the Netherlands.
This is not KMG's only ride mishap. A 23-year-old maintenance worker died in April 2016 when he became trapped during an inspection of a KMG ride at the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition in Florida, according to the Miami Herald.
Investigation
"I have ordered a full investigation into this incident and have ordered that all fair rides be shut down until additional safety inspections can be completed," Ohio Governor John Kasich said in a statement Wednesday evening.
The Fire Ball's operator told The Columbus Dispatch that he heard metal cracking and looked up to see two men thrown off the ride.
"It appears that an entire row of seats snapped off one of the spoke arms and fell to the ground as the ride began to swing upwards again," The Dispatch said after viewing a video of the incident on social media.
The video showed at least two people tossed into the air while other riders fell to the ground with the seats.
The cause of the malfunction is under investigation by the Ohio Highway Patrol, which is the law enforcement unit in control of the fair.
Recent flooding delayed ride inspections, forcing Ohio's ride inspectors to work long hours to check the State Fair's 72 rides, The Dispatch reported on Tuesday.
Investigators checked the rides before, during, and after they were set up on the fairgrounds. They watched the ride assembly and operated the rides "to make sure they are meeting its specifications," chief inspector of amusement ride safety for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Michael Vartorella, told The Dispatch.
