Thrilling Rescue on Rollercoaster in Texas

Eight students were rescued unharmed after being stranded at the top of a rollercoaster ride that malfunctioned at Pleasure Pier in Galveston. Pictures and news footage of the incident showed a rollercoaster car stalled at the peak of a huge almost vertical drop on the Iron Shark rollercoaster overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. The eight young people – all students of two schools in nearby Houston – spent almost four hours in the baking hot sun as local emergency personnel sought to rescue them.

Eventually, firefighters extended a huge rescue ladder up to the students and, using harnesses, extricated them from the rollercoaster car and brought them back to the ground by allowing them to climb down the ladder to safety. Mike Varela Jr, Galveston’s fire chief, told a press conference that the students were doing well and uninjured by their ordeal. “Of course they were shaken up from climbing that ladder down, being in that hot sun,” he said. “They have been checked for dehydration and everyone seems to be doing pretty good.”

The incident occurred when the ride experienced a malfunction that triggered the emergency stop. Terry Turney, chief operating officer of Pleasure Pier, said that the pause happened when the ride experienced a malfunction at its initial ascent, however, as designed, it immediately stopped to keep everyone safe. The ride will undergo a thorough inspection before it is placed back in service.