Smiler rollercoaster at Alton Towers - carriage collision

DJMK4 · 2 Jun 2015 at 15:40

Outch!

Not good

16 people in the carrage, 4 apparently seriously injured with reports of the ride being broken down earlier on in the day

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...er-rollercoaster-collide-16-people-board.html

'People unconscious, knocked out. Blood everywhere. It really was shocking. Air ambulances landing now, people still stuck.'

Good thing one of them was empty atleast, could have been double if not more casulties with a collision + the extra passenger weight in carrage 2.

Hopefully everyone makes it through the worst.

snips86x · 2 Jun 2015 at 15:41

Just read that, awful news

Hope those involved are going to be ok!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32980354

MOOGLEYS · 2 Jun 2015 at 15:54

It's had a history of failures and running two cars at once is a stupid idea. Apparently people were shouting that the car was stuck but the staff still let the next car go ?

smr · 2 Jun 2015 at 15:57

mad, i was just thinking about alton towers randomly yesterday, i usually make an annual trip there but havent been for the last couple of years.

robfosters · 2 Jun 2015 at 15:59

MOOGLEYS said:
It's had a history of failures and running two cars at once is a stupid idea. Apparently people were shouting that the car was stuck but the staff still let the next car go ?

If true, they better get their cheque books ready.

smr · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:00

was just thinking that, a few thousand pounds coming to those people, especially the ones seriously injured, i'd estimate in the hundreds of thousands.

McGray · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:03

smr said:
was just thinking that, a few thousand pounds coming to those people, especially the ones seriously injured, i'd estimate in the hundreds of thousands.

We clearly have an expert here.

Burnsy2023 · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:05

smr said:
was just thinking that, a few thousand pounds coming to those people, especially the ones seriously injured, i'd estimate in the hundreds of thousands.

I doubt hundreds of thousands unless the injuries are life changing.

robfosters · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:07

Sketchy reports that one person has died.

Gambisk · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:12

That ride is starting to get a bit of a reputation, and not a good one. Hope everyone is ok.

Firestar_3x · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:12

Alton Towers has some serious questions to answer following this.

God knows why in this day and age the rollercoaster can't detect the location of both carrages, and not allow one to be released if the other is stuck / in a position that both will crash.

smr · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:13

McGray said:
We clearly have an expert here.

My sister got £10,000 for suffering whiplash in a car accident which wasn't even that bad....

I'm guessing considering the circumstances surrounding this crash, with "serious" injuries - we're not just talking about whiplash... so I could quite feasibly see the compo running up to the 100k mark... there were other people in the carriage besides those four don't forget, they will also have a right to claim.

But anyway the main thing is that hopefully these people can recover fully and completely and that everyone is ultimately going to be ok.

McGray · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:14

Thanks again for your expert analysis.

Ascendancy · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:14

Christ, was only on it a few weeks ago.

Sounds like some serious human error though.

smr · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:14

Firestar_3x said:
Alton Towers has some serious questions to answer following this.

God knows why in this day and age the rollercoaster can't detect the location of both carrages, and not allow one to be released if the other is stuck / in a position that both will crash.

I was thinking the same thing, it beggars belief.

smr · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:15

McGray said:
Thanks again for your expert analysis.

You're welcome.

Sliver · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:15

Firestar_3x said:
God knows why in this day and age the rollercoaster can't detect the location of both carrages, and not allow one to be released if the other is stuck / in a position that both will crash.

Human error I suspect. Someone, probably a single individual, will get dealt the blame for this and Alton Towers will walk away with their heads held high.

Burnsy2023 · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:16

I'm sure the HSE will have a field day.

Zefan · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:17

McGray said:
Thanks again for your expert analysis.

robfosters · 2 Jun 2015 at 16:18

Lots of vital time wasted building a platform to get to the victims.

Surely it should be designed to allow quicker access in case of events like this.