At least five people were seriously injured on a Six Flags Great Adventure roller coaster in New Jersey on Thursday night, New Jersey police said. The injured have been taken to hospital and are being treated there. According to a Jackson Township Police Department spokesperson who spoke to Fox News Digital, the accident happened during the El Toro ride.
Television chopper footage from overhead showed ambulances around El Toro roller coaster as of 9 pm. It is not known exactly what went wrong and an investigation is on. The El Toro ride has since been halted and more details about the accident are yet to come in.
Horror Ride
A representative for Six Flags told The New York Post that several park visitors complained of back pain after riding the roller coaster around 7:30 p.m. Following that the ride had to be halted and at least five of those injured on the ride were taken to a nearby hospital.
First responders from the Jackson area were dispatched to the theme park just before 8 p.m. The majority of the injuries, according to the Jackson Township Police Department, were minor, and no officers were dispatched to the scene. According to the outlet, Jackson Township EMS said that they could not comment on the incident.
However, aerial footage from a chopper showed multiple ambulances parked outside the amusement park, while the injured were being stretchered out by medics. The park's spokesperson Gabriel Darretta said in a statement that the ride is being inspected and the exact cause behind the malfunction is yet to be identified.
Major Accident Avoided
According to reports, the ride could have been fatal had it not been stopped immediately after people started complaining. A woman who said she was on the El Toro Thursday night wrote on Facebook that "it felt like [the roller coaster] hit a pothole" after the third drop.
The park visitor said that she believed she might have chipped a tooth on the hard ride in the post, which was shared on a Facebook group for visitors to the amusement park in New Jersey.
The woman said, "Other passengers reported they too bit their tongues." Another rider, however, told Daily Voice under the condition of anonymity that they found the ride enjoyable.
"It's a great coaster. It's not for the faint of heart to be honest..." they said. "Accidents happen. It's part and parcel of riding coasters."
Six Flags has time and again been accused of treating its guests too casually which has resulted in several mishaps lately.
On Sunday evening three people were injured in a shooting in the parking lot at a Six Flags Great America amusement park in Gurnee, Illinois, roughly 45 miles from Chicago.
