 Woman Killed on Gyrating Playland Ride
NEW YORK (AP) -- An accident involving a gyrating ride at an amusement park north of New York City left a young woman dead Friday night, police said.
The woman was killed while riding the Mind Scrambler ride at around 9:30 p.m. at Playland Amusement Park in Rye, said Westchester County Police spokesman Kieran O'Leary. The indoor ride has cars that travel in a circular path while also rotating themselves.
Emergency workers responded quickly, but "there wasn't very much anybody could do for her," O'Leary said. The woman, who was in her 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.
Police were still investigating early Saturday, and no details about the circumstances of the accident were available. The woman's name was not released because her family had not been notified, and it was not known whether she was riding the Mind Scrambler alone or with friends, O'Leary said.
The ride and a surrounding section of the amusement park were closed after the accident, but the rest of the park remained open, O'Leary said.
The indoor attraction spins riders around in a darkened tent with flashing lights. It was the scene of another fatal accident on May 22, 2004, when 7-year-old Stephanie Dieudonne wriggled free of the restraining bar on one of the cars, knelt on the seat and fell soon after the ride started, according to investigators.
The amusement park was not cited for any violations or required to make improvements to the ride after the girl's death, but officials announced plans to add seat belts, more lighting and a second attendant at the ride.
Friday's accident marked the fourth fatality in as many years at the county owned Playland, a National Historic Landmark that opened in 1928.
After the Mind Scrambler accident in 2004, a 7-year-old boy was killed the following year when he climbed out of his boat ride and fell, according to investigators. A 43-year-old man drowned after wading into a lake at the park on July 4, 2006.
The park's director and a spokesman for the county Department of Parks, Recreation & Conservation, which oversees Playland, did not immediately return telephone messages left at their offices late Friday.
The park is located on Long Island Sound about 20 miles north of the George Washington Bridge in Manhattan.
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Seems to have more and more freak accidents in amusement parks arnd the world these days.:freakedout:  Life is full of ups and downs. But one has to learn how to stand up on his own and continue his path to attaining enlightment...:mellow3: :mellow3:
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