Pleasurewood Hills rollercoaster rescue

  • Published
Media caption,

Firefighters used a cherry picker to get to the man on the Wipeout ride

A man had to be rescued by firefighters after a rollercoaster became stuck "in a very high position" on its tracks.

The man, who was suffering from back pain, was on the Wipeout ride at Pleasurewood Hills in Suffolk.

Firefighters had to use a cherry picker to reach him on Sunday afternoon.

Park-goer Bryony Davies said the incident lasted at least two hours. "Wipeout got stuck at the top and staff did incredibly well to get people down," she added.

Around 20 firefighters rescued the man in his 40s, who was taken to hospital in Gorleston from the park, near Lowestoft.

Group Commander Ali Moseley said by the time fire crews had arrived, park staff had "managed to get the rollercoaster car down to an elevated platform after it seemed to get stuck in a very high position".

Image source, Rik Engelen
Image caption,
The incident happened on the Wipeout ride (pictured here in working order)

He added: "The car was about three metres off the ground in an awkward position as there was only an angled platform to stand on around the car to get access to him.

"The incident was caused because there seemed to be a fault with the ride. It didn't result in any massive injury, but there was some injury to the individual."

Image source, Rik Engelen
Image caption,
Wipeout has a top speed of 50mph

Mr Moseley said the other people on the ride were "quickly evacuated before the fire service arrived".

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service described it as an "unusual" call-out.

A spokeswoman for Pleasurewood Hills said it was "a minor incident that was dealt with by [our] team".

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