18 guests at a carnival in Southern California were trapped midair after a Zipper ride malfunctioned over the weekend.
The incident took place at the Conejo Valley Days carnival in Thousand Oaks. The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) made a Facebook post about the situation on Monday, and reported that they were alerted to the incident at around 8:05 p.m. on Sunday night.
“Sunday night, VCFD firefighters responded to a technical rescue at the Conejo Creek Park as approximately 18 people were trapped on an amusement park ride,” the Facebook post explained.
“Firefighters were able to successfully rescue all riders, by manually lowering the amusement ride,” the post added.
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18 guests at the Conejo Valley Days carnival in Thousand Oaks, California, were stuck on a ride for nearly an hour on Sunday. (Ventura Fire Department via Facebook / iStock)
Authorities noted that the rescue took around a half hour. No injuries were reported, and first responders were at the scene for 35 minutes.
Kastl Amusements, the carnival operators, confirmed the incident to Fox News Digital. Kastl Amusements owner Kay Kastl said that the ride’s pause began at around 7:45 p.m.
“The computer control system on the Zipper ride detected an anomaly and stopped the ride’s operation as it was designed to do,” Kastl said. “The passengers remained safely secured, were not upside down, and were in no danger at any time.”
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The Ventura County Fire Department reported that they assisted helping guests off the ride, which the carnival operator disputes. (Ventura Fire Department via Facebook)
“The ride operators began to unload the ride’s 12 vehicles in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommended procedure,” she added. “The evacuation procedure, while seemingly slow, is carefully designed to maintain the balance of the ride vehicles and keeps the passengers safe at all times.”
Kastl Amusements also reported that authorities were “on-hand but did not assist,” disputing the VCFD’s Facebook post. Kastl told Fox News Digital that staff assisted guests off the ride.
“All passengers were unloaded safely by ride staff with no reported injuries,” she added.
File image of Conejo Valley Days festival in Thousand Oaks, California. (Carlos Chavez/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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Kastl Amusements is investigating the Zipper ride to determine the cause of the incident. No additional details are known at this time.
