Children screamed in terror as their waltzer car came crashing out of a fairground attraction after it suddenly appeared to malfunction.
Dramatic footage taken at the Galactic Carnival Festival in Wester Hailed, Edinburgh shows the ‘unthinkable’ happening as the circular vehicle goes flying.
The victims’ father, Kevin McNulty, who was in the car on the ride behind his three children, aged 13, 12 and seven, described seeing it ‘come completely off’ before going smack bang into his own seat.
Speaking of Saturday night’s events, which took place at around 7pm, Mr McNulty said: ‘Going full pelt their car came completely off and then went flying into our car.
‘It then smashed about the place crashing into the side off the track, thankfully there was a heavy large speaker that they collided with or they would have been through the whole thing and then the ending would have been a completely different story – a thought I can’t stop thinking about.
‘The shows continued to go (not the waltzers) but place should have been shut down for a full inspection.
‘It was like something you see in the movies and my kids are very very lucky that they managed to get out of this still walking.’
He added his children were shaken but ‘not too bad’ considering the circumstances.
The victims’ father, Kevin McNulty, who was in the car on the ride behind his three children, aged 13, 12 and 7, described seeing it ‘come completely off’ before going smack bang into his own seat
Things soon spiral out of control as the ‘unthinkable’ happens and the circular vehicle goes flying
It comes as the trio can be heard shouting ‘oh my god’ repeatedly in footage of the event, with one even sounding as though they have burst into tears.
In a public Facebook post shared by Mr McNulty, one person commented: ‘That’s horrendous, hope they are all ok.’
Another added: ‘Oh god hearing them scream like that makes me feel sick!’
A third said: ‘So scary, I’m just glad it’s all on video for evidence and the photos were taken. Hope everyone is ok.’
Only two months prior, a similarly dangerous event in India left two students injured when a funfair ride malfunctioned mid-air.
Horrifyingly, the fairground-goers at the MGM Amusement Park in Chennai had their swinging boat ride career several feet into the air when a large metal rod suddenly detached and fell on them.
And recent horror stories in the UK include a five-year-old having to be rushed to hospital earlier this week when the carriage of a funfair ride she was in in Llandudno, North Wales came loose and fell several feet to the ground.
Eyewitnesses said the carriage appeared to detach from the amusement ride on Saturday morning and that the young occupant was ‘ejected onto the road’ and left in tears before she was taken away in an ambulance.
Mr McNulty said: ‘Going full pelt their car came completely off and then went flying into our car’
In December last year, a woman was injured in Birmingham when a 180ft Christmas fairground ride crashed to the ground.
Louise Brown suffered injuries to her face, legs and arms, adding that her colleague was also hurt. Pictures show her with cuts and bruises on her face.
‘We were on it having fun and then it just crashed to the ground,’ she said.
‘It felt like we were descending, not at the highest point but still quite high. We just dropped.
‘It went backwards first though, which I’ve never seen it do before.’
The Galactic Carnival Festival has been contacted for comment in relation to last night’s event.
