Two dozen people were rescued from a stalled roller coaster at Six Flags in Upper Marlboro, Maryland on Sunday evening, reported the Prince George's County Fire Department.
The ride, ominously named the Joker's Jinx roller coaster, suddenly stopped in the middle of operations at a height of about 80 feet, according to a spokesperson for Six Flags.
While there were complaints about dehydration, back pains and cramps, all 24 people that were stuck on the ride were safe and relatively unharmed, the spokesperson added.
The Prince George's County Fire Department responded to the accident and required a high angle rescue to save the trapped passengers. Each person was taken out of the roller coaster through a rescue bucket that was lifted up into the air using a 105-foot tower ladder that was carried by a fire truck.
Of the 24 passengers, 17 were adults while 7 were children. The passengers were stuck in the ride for over four hours. Paul Gomez, assistant fire chief for the Prince George's County Fire Department, said that the passengers were stuck in an upright position near the top of the roller coaster track.
The firefighters made their first face-to-face contact with the stuck passengers at around 4 p.m., in what the department thought would be a long term rescue. While the passengers were being rescued one by one, they were provided by the rescue team with umbrellas to have shade from the sun. They were also given drinking water.
The passengers were first strapped in place within their respective cars as the rescue operation commenced. All the riders have been rescued by 7 p.m.
A statement by Six Flags said that the Joker's Jinx roller coaster has a computerized safety system which could cause ride stoppages such as the one that happened, with the spokesman saying that the system "performed as it is designed to."
However, the theme park is still currently investigating what triggered the safety system to stop the ride. As the investigation continues, the ride will be closed to the general public.
The Joker's Jinx roller coaster, which first began operations in 1999, can reach a speed of 60 miles per hour from a standstill in just over 3 seconds using a cutting-edge linear induction motor launch system. The roller coaster takes passengers on an upside down turn a total of four times over the course of the ride, which is a length of 2,705 feet and lasts for 1 minute and 15 seconds.
