Gareth H
Gareth H

Roller coasters collide at Blackpool in the UK

August 12, 2009, 7:20 AM · Two cars on the Big Dipper on Blackpool's South Shore collided 20 feet off the ground yesterday.

Twenty-one riders on the roller coaster were hurt, with three taken to the hospital, though none critical.

Around 32 people were rescued from the two trains by emergency services, including a specialist rope rescue team.

The Big Dipper is one of the popular British amusement park's wooden roller coasters. It appears that one train became stuck on the track, then was hit by the other train.

Replies (5)

JoshC.
Joshua Counsil
August 12, 2009 at 8:33 AM · Any idea how it got stuck?
jfs123
rick stevens
August 12, 2009 at 11:58 PM · I hope all were OK after the ordeal of the rescue. It will be interesting to see what the problem was that caused this one. With the rash of accidents, I wonder how much employee fatigue works into the equation. Or is it just a matter of bottom dollar? Your thoughts?
cernuschi
Daniel Cernuschi
August 13, 2009 at 4:12 AM · There is a mixture of two factors that caused this incident. Yes the train was stopped and the cause is still unkown as to what did this (an investigation is still trying to identify the problem), but there should not have been two trains running in the same section of the track. There should have been a MCBR or the second train should have been released until the first returned to the station. This crash may be partly due to human error.
nw_snapper
Dave Bower
August 13, 2009 at 10:12 PM · The crash occurred just before the left hand bend prior to the return run to the station. This is just after the track passes beneath the Pepsi Max Big One. It is possible that the train was halted by debris on the track falling from the higher coaster. There are no nets below the Big One to catch debris.

The second train crashed into the first and rolled backwards down the slope to come to rest outside the Big Blue Hotel

anonymous
72.188.41.185
August 14, 2009 at 10:34 AM · I heard about this briefly on TV and tried to find news about it on the internet. I can't seem to find anything. It is either little interest to the media, or the theme park is trying to keep a lid on it?

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