Riders Trapped on Huge Ferris Wheel at Orlando Amusement Park
The 400-foot high wheel is at Icon Park in Orlando, where a teenager died earlier this year after falling off a ride.
Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty
Revelers celebrating New Year’s Eve at Orlando’s Icon Park encountered a nightmare on Saturday evening when the power supply to the enormous ferris wheel suddenly went out, trapping riders 400 feet in the air. “The Wheel lost power Saturday night and we’re working with the Orange County Fire Department to safely evacuate guests,” the park said in a statement cited by Fox 35. The ride, known as “The Wheel,” was working normally when a massive shower of sparks suddenly flew out and the power was lost to almost all the cars, said Randy Pryor, an attendee who shared images of the outage on Twitter. Rescue crews from the fire department scaled the wheel to rescue trapped riders, Pryor said, while drones and helicopters hovered in the sky. In March, Icon Park made headlines when 14-year-old Tyre Sampson plunged to his death from the FreeFall Drop Tower Ride.
Here at Icon Park @iconparkorlando - where the Eye had stopped working. Lights were visible in the cars for a short time, then a massive shower of sparks flew from the wheel. power was then lost to almost all of the cars. Massive response from Fire department. #iconpark
— Randy Pryor (@RealRandyPryor) January 1, 2023
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