An Ohio State Fair accident resulted in the tragic death of a Young Man and injured seven others after a ride malfunctioned. While people were inside one of the compartments of "Fire Ball," it broke apart mid-air and flung them out of their seats. An 18-year-old man died on impact, according to Fox News.
Tragedy blindsides fair-goers
The Ohio State Fair accident has caused other rides to be shut down until an investigation is completed on what went wrong. A video of the incident was captured by a witness in which the ride was seen moving back-and-forth in a spinning motion before a part of the ride flew off.
Tyler Jarrell, 18, from Columbus, Ohio was killed instantly during the accident. He had just been recruited by the U.S. Marines. NBC News names the other victims as Tamika Dunlap, 36, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio; Jacob Andrews, 22, of Pataskala, Ohio; as well as Russell Franks, 42; Keziah Lewis, 19; Jennifer Lambert, 18; and Abdihakim Hussein, 19, all of Columbus, Ohio. A 14-year-old boy was also injured in the accident, but his family requested that authorities not release his name.
Several 911 calls were made and one person assumed to be a worker at the fairgrounds told a dispatcher that they would need extraction equipment to remove people from the ride. Some witnesses have been left "traumatized" following the horrible incident.
Two sisters in line for the ride said the ride was moving as normal when suddenly people started flying out; the ride operator hit the emergency stop button, which made the seat also fall off.
California fair shuts down own version of ride
After the Ohio State Fair accident happened, the California State Fair decided to halt operation of a similar ride.
An inspector at that fair told a local Fox news station that they want to hear from the factory that it's alright to continue operating the ride. Both rides were manufactured in Holland.
Ohio state governor John Kasich said in a press conference that the state fair accident will not "define us" and that people should still enjoy the event.
He noted that it doesn't mean yesterday is forgotten.
It's rare for thrill rides to malfunction, but when they do in the event of the Fire Ball, it's a tragedy the nation wakes up to. Most of the time wild rides are safe for people to enjoy, but nothing is foolproof. When such instances occur, investigations are carried out and engineers are brought in to find ways to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again.
