Fun ride goes awry, 36 rescued after midair ordeal near Chennai

Chennai: A fun ride at a theme park in Injambakkam near here turned nightmarish for a group of 36 persons who got stranded midair after the vehicle got immobilised reportedly due to a technical glitch on Tuesday night.

All the 36 persons, including children, were safely rescued after a one-and-a-half-hour rescue operation, a senior official from the fire and rescue services department said.

“We were able to rescue all the 36 persons, including 20 men and 16 women, by using two sky lifts. They are all safe,” district fire officer Loganathan said.

About 35 personnel from the fire and rescue services department along with the local police were involved in bringing down the stranded people.

There was total chaos when the ride that could revolve a full circle suddenly got stuck. Luckily for the passengers, it remained above the ground, sparing them the risk of falling down.

Nevertheless, they panicked as there was no one to comfort or rescue them for nearly two hours, a woman who was later rescued said.

A visibly shaken man said he used his mobile phone and Instagram account to seek police help.

“We got a call at 7.20 pm that 36 people were stuck in a fun ride called ‘Top Gun’. After our initial attempts to rescue them with a ladder failed, we engaged two sky lifts to safely bring them down one by one,” Loganathan told reporters.

None among those rescued were injured, he said, adding that an ambulance was brought to the theme park to check their health status.

“It is suspected that a mechanical fault left the giant ride stuck in midair,” he said.