Nearly 20 people were trapped midair after a Southern California carnival ride malfunctioned over the weekend.
The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) said in a statement posted to Facebook on Monday that 18 people on the “Zipper” attraction were rescued by firefighters “manually lowering the amusement ride” on Sunday night. The incident took place at the “Conejo Valley Days” event in Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
While the stoppage may have been unnerving for those trapped on the ride, no injures were reported and all riders were rescued about 30 minutes after a 911 call was made to report the malfunction. The long-running annual festival, which features carnival rides, music and food vendors, began on Thursday.
“Sunday night, VCFD firefighters responded to a technical rescue at the Conejo Creek Park as approximately 18 people were trapped on an amusement park ride,” the VCFD statement reads. “Firefighters were able to successfully rescue all riders, by manually lowering the amusement ride.”
“No injuries reported,” it continues. “Fire crews were on scene for about 35 minutes. 911 call received at 8:05 pm and all riders were rescued from the ride by 8:35 pm.”
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The reason for the malfunction was unclear at the time of publication. The festival, including the carnival rides, was expected to resume as scheduled on Wednesday and continue until Sunday, although it was not known whether the Zipper ride would return.
In a statement emailed to Newsweek on Monday afternoon, Kay Kastl of Kastl Amusements—the company that operates the carnival rides at the festival—said that the ride’s computer control system detected “an anomaly” at approximately 7:45 p.m. local time and stopped the ride.
Kastl said riders were “safely secured,” not upside down and “in no danger at any time.” She also said that the firefighters did not participate in the rescue of riders, although VCFD personnel were on the scene at the time.
“The ride operators began to unload the ride’s 12 vehicles in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommended procedure,” Kastl said. “The evacuation procedure, while seemingly slow, is carefully designed to maintain the balance of the ride vehicles and keeps the passengers safe at all times.”
“All passengers were unloaded safely by ride staff with no reported injuries. The Ventura County Fire Department was on-hand but did not assist,” she added. “The ride is being evaluated to determine the cause of the stoppage.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to VCFD via email on Monday for clarification.
Conejo Valley Days spokesperson Diane Rumbaugh told The Ventura County Star earlier on Monday that the rescue process was “very simple” and “went smoothly,” while adding that “no one was hanging upside down or anything like that.”
Earlier this month, a different carnival-style ride at the Oaks Amusement Park in Portland, Oregon, did leave a number of people trapped upside down after malfunctioning in midair. While all of the riders were safely rescued by emergency workers after approximately 30 minutes, video of the incident was quickly shared on social media, with witnesses at the park describing it as “terrifying.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.