13 children and adult injured on fairground ride at Welsh pleasure park

North Wales Live

2 days ago

Fourteen people sustained injuries, including one adult and 13 children, following a ride derailment at Porthcawl's Coney Beach Pleasure Park on Wednesday. Seven of the casualties were taken to hospital for additional medical care.
The attraction involved was the venue's Wacky Worm ride, which is billed as a "small introductory roller coaster" on the Coney Beach Pleasure Park website.
Footage shared across social media platforms shows the lead carriage of this attraction dangling from the rollercoaster's rails, with adults assisting bloodied and bruised youngsters to ground level. Emergency services including police, fire and ambulance were called to the incident
One mum revealed that a metal barrier collapsed onto her son's pushchair whilst she heard youngsters "screaming" and "crying out" after a carriage on the attraction left the rails.
Rebecca Eccleston, 22, from Llantwit Major, was visiting the funfair with her son and a large group of friends when the accident occurred, reports Wales Online.
Rebecca told BBC Wales: "It was all fine and the kids were enjoying themselves then all of a sudden there was a massive bang." I turned and the metal railing had fallen on to my right shoulder and my pram."
Rebecca's one-year-old son Theo, who was in the pram, came out of the incident with a few bruises.
A witness' account of what happened
A father of three has recalled the terrifying moment he watched the Wacky Worm ride at Coney Beach Amusement Park "completely lift off the rail" - with his three children on board.
Matthew Baker, 44, had travelled from Port Talbot to Porthcawl with his partner and children on Wednesday, August 13, expecting a fun family day out.
The family arrived at the busy funfair at around 5.15pm and were walking through the park when the Wacky Worm ride caught the attention of Matthew's four-year-old son.
"My youngest is autistic and non-verbal," Matthew explained. "So it's difficult to know what he's interested in. When he showed excitement toward the ride, my teenage daughters offered to take him on."
Promoted on the amusement park's website as "the perfect first thrill ride for the kids" and "a small introductory roller coaster that will get them screaming," the Wacky Worm is designed to appeal to young children.
However, instead of a smooth, fun experience, Matthew said the ride had completed just one lap when a sudden "jaunting, jiggling" noise was heard. Moments later, it came to an abrupt halt before the back end of the train lifted completely off the rails, crashing down with such force that it bounced back up.
The impact was so powerful, Matthew claims, that a section of the security fencing surrounding the ride flew off - narrowly missing his partner, whom he pushed out of the way.
In what he described as "chaotic" scenes, Matthew and another man ran toward the ride, shouting at the stunned operator to open the gate. When there was no immediate response, a third man joined them, and together they "ripped" at the gate and "dived" to reach those still on board.
"My 15-year-old daughter was sitting next to my son," Matthew said. "She must've realised something was wrong, because she had wrapped her arms around him and shielded him from further injury."
"My four-year-old had a busted lip - there was a lot of blood - and he has bruises on his body. My 15-year-old hurt her left knee, and my 13-year-old daughter, who was sitting behind them, hit her chin so hard her jaw is swollen and she's badly bruised around the ribs," Matthew said.
He added: "Beyond the physical injuries, all three of them are really shaken up. It's especially hard for my son, as I said, he's non-verbal - we can't know for sure if anything else is wrong."
In the minutes that followed the derailment, Matthew claimed staff members approached the ride to collect information from those involved, before reattaching the fallen fencing.
Roughly ten minutes after the incident, emergency services arrived, and shortly after that, visitors were told to leave the park.
"When police got there, people were shouting, 'You need to close this place down,'" Matthew recalled. "It was all a bit of a blur. People were demanding refunds, refusing to leave. There was a lot going on."
Another witness, who asked to remain anonymous, was at the site with family. She said the situation began with a "loud bang" followed by "screams" and the immediate sound of people shouting to "get the kids off".
She said the ride was fully loaded with both adults and children when it derailed.
Staff and owners of the park quickly responded to the situation, helping people off the ride, with one of the last individuals to be assisted being an older woman who required a ladder to safely exit the ride.
Despite the initial shock and panic the witness described how the crowd seemed to calm down after the immediate reaction. The park was then evacuated.
Around 30 minutes after the incident the woman reported seeing six police cars and vans, one fire engine, and three ambulances on the scene including a special units ambulance.
Though the woman, who lives in Porthcawl, said she did not observe any injuries personally, she said had been told by another visitor, that a child was struck by part of the derailed track. This has not yet been confirmed by officials.
As emergency services worked to secure the area crowds of people gathered near the park's entrance seeking refunds.
The witness said site owners communicated wristbands purchased for Wednesday evening would remain valid until the following day.
South Wales Police's latest update
Police have now confirmed 13 children and one adult received minor injuries and seven of those affected were taken to hospital.
A spokesman for South Wales Police said on Wednesday night: "Officers were called to Coney Beach Amusement Park, Porthcawl, Bridgend, at around 5.50pm on Wednesday evening following an accident involving one of the rides."
"At this time we have confirmed that 13 children and one adult have sustained minor injuries. Some of these have required hospital treatment.
"The amusement park will remain closed on August 14 while officers and health and safety personnel carry out their investigation.
"Please continue to avoid the area to allow emergency services access."
Coney Beach's response
Following the incident, Coney Beach have issued an official statement to their social media, which reads: "Due to an incident on a third-party ride not owned by Coney Beach, we were instructed by the police to clear the site for further investigation.
"We apologise for the disruption and will be providing refunds to affected guests as soon as possible. We will be releasing instructions on refunds shortly. We thank you for your cooperation."
Coney Beach Pleasure Park will remain closed on Thursday as police continue their investigation work.