Twelve people were stranded in a Universal Studios rollercoaster in Florida when a mechanical failure caused ride "Hollywoo Rip, Ride, Rockit" to completely stop as it was reaching its first peak, according to local media.
According to news website Terra, the incident happened at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 9. 12 people remained stuck for over two hours and then were finally rescued.
According to the source, park authorities said that the failure caused the computers operating the ride to stop the rollercoaster. "The system performed exactly as it was supposed to," Tom Schroder, Universal spokesman, said.
The park's spokesmen insisted that the reason the rescue took so long to arrive was because rescue units wanted to do it as safely as possible. "We spent a long time talking to them (the passengers) to try and make them feel as good as possible", Schroder added.
According to the first reports quoted by Terra, there were other cars on the rails but park employees were able to assist those passengers to get off the ride almost immediately.
Since the last train was stuck in a vertical position at over 45 meters of height, park workers had to be aided by firemen and rescue until they managed to push the train into a horizontal position and use an elevator to get them off the ride.
Although the cause of the failure has not yet been fully determined, park authorities are already carrying out an investigation.
There were no injuries reported, however, a woman complained about neck pains and was taken to a hospital as a precaution.
The rollercoaster will be closed to the public until the causes of the incident can be determined, the park's administration informed. "We will not open it until we understand what happened and we will make sure it never happens again", Schroder said, quoted by Terra.
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