M&D's Incident June 2016

Leah said:

Never been but not one of their coasters look particularly safe.

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Both its main coasters Tsunami and Tornado have had issues. Tornado is well known for being so rough. So rough it had to get its corkscrew section removed (it didn't help much). Many go on Tsunami as it is the smoother of the two.

They're both horrendous contraptions.

update- video:
http://video.dailymail.co.uk/video/...9622344575073/640x360_7833819622344575073.mp4
oh dear, oh drear. according to a witness, a boy may have lost a hand, due to it being crushed.

To be honest it will be a miracle if a lost hand is the worst injury to come out of this.

I hope he and the other riders are alright, though I doubt this will be an accident where all of the riders can walk away with no serious injuries.

Sadly, I'll be amazed if that's the worst injury that comes out of this.

As a side point though, how will M&D's financially cope with this? We all know merlin could easily pay for the compensation and care of those on the smiler. How will this park do?

Leah said:

how will M&D's financially cope with this?

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They won't, wouldn't be at all surprised if this will be the end for the park. Not that it will be missed that much.

This is shocking.

My thoughts are with all those that are involved. I wish that all the casualties make a full recovery

Roy

RyanY said:

They won't, wouldn't be at all surprised if this will be the end for the park. Not that it will be missed that much.

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Don't think you're wrong there. With the smiler (sorry, I'm going to keep comparing it), at least it was human error. It wasn't a fault with the ride. Of course we don't know what's happened yet, but it looks like a pretty catastrophic failure on the train, which will only really be caused by poor maintenance. Apparently, eye witnesses are saying that they don't think it should have been running under the current weather (may or may not have been a factor, but I don't think it would have helped).

The police have said that out of the 11 injured, 9 were children. They are not giving details on injury at this stage, but I'm sure we will find out over the next few days.

I've been on this coaster when it was travelling.

Great ride, really forceful through the inversions. Absolutely staggering that a large, fast, looping invert has come off the tracks and nobody's died.

Just seen a Police statement on ITV news and it said the train hit the superstructure 1st and that caused it to derail

Like many on here I'm shocked by what happened and my thoughts are with those effected. That said I've always said that the park was pretty much held up by duck tape and the maintenance on the park was a joke, arguably worse than Merlin parks! Whether this is worse than the Smiler crash remains to be seen.

To see that this was Tsunami that crashed, my very first upside down coaster, I do feel more sadden by this. If this marks the end of the park then I wouldn't be surprised, it has been limping along for the past few years now.

Weather shouldn't really be a factor. The rain will speed up the ride a bit but the forces should still be well within safe operating limits. The factors of safety used to design rides are huge.

Wow, look at that first pic further up, imagine being in that back row seeing that support heading straight to your face..

apparently riders were stuck on it for eight hours in 2011, after it broke down, then eventually had to be evacuated.

That is why I don't trust rides that don't have catwalks under the lift hill.

Marshal-B33J said:

Just seen a Police statement on ITV news and it said the train hit the superstructure 1st and that caused it to derail

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That's not what the police said, at all:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-36635086 said:

Ch Insp David Bruce of Police Scotland said: "On arrival it became clear a series of five gondolas connected on a train on the Tsunami ride have detached from the rails, struck the superstructure and then struck the ground.

"They [the gondolas] fell less than 20 feet. It would appear that they have been coming round a bend and at that point it has detached.

"It's an inverted rollercoaster which means that the riders hang in gondolas below the rails rather than sit above them.

Mr Bruce could not say what speed the passengers had been travelling at when the carriage left the rails, but he confirmed it "hadn't struck anything on the ground".

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Tygra said:

Update Nine children and two adults in hospital. Only 10 people can go on the ride at a time so must have been injures on the ground as well

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Police are now saying this was wrong. It is eight children, two adults. Reading the quote above "hadn't struck anything on the ground" Doesn't make it any better but good to know that it is possible no one on the ground was hit by the train.

BBC have also been reporting that "One adult and one child are in stable condition and three children are expected to be allowed home later."

emergency services personnel's account of the incident:
http://video.dailymail.co.uk/video/...8224067277170/640x360_4855398224067277170.mp4

Just going to steal the police reports here:


"UPDATE – ONGOING INCIDENT – M&Ds THEME PARK

Emergency services are at the scene dealing with the incident at M&Ds theme park.

At this time we are aware of 11 casualties – two adults and nine children, who are all being treated at local hospitals. We are unable to give more detail of their injuries at this stage.

Further updates will be given as soon as they are available.

At 15.49 hrs today, Sunday 26 June 2016, Police Scotland received a report of an incident involving a roller coaster at M&D Theme Park, Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The Tsunami inverted roller-coaster ride, involving five gondolas in a train, detached from its rails, collided with the ride’s main structure and struck the ground. There were nine passengers on the ride.

Ten people, eight children and two adults, have been taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Wishaw General and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where they are being treated for injuries. The details of their injuries will be provided in due course.

The Theme Park and immediate area were evacuated following the incident. M&D Theme Park is now closed.
Police Scotland, Scottish Ambulance Service, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Health and Safety Executive are in attendance.

Chief Inspector David Bruce, said:

“Our thoughts are with the families of those injured. A joint investigation by Police Scotland and HSE is now underway. I would appeal for any witnesses who have not yet come forward to please call 101. ”

RyanY said:

They won't, wouldn't be at all surprised if this will be the end for the park. Not that it will be missed that much.

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If it's the ride design at fault surely the manufacturer (someone said Pinfari) will be stumping most of the fine. M&D will struggle more from what will be the inevitable poor gates.

As with everyone else I hope those affected make a full recovery.