13 Year Old Girl Has Legs Severed from Amusement Park Ride

Late Thursday afternoon a young teenage girl had her legs severed riding the Superman Tower of Power ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, the parks spokeswoman Carolyn McLean said. She also announced that the girls name would not be released because she is a minor, but the teenager was taken to University Hospital and was undergoing surgery but as of late last night her status was unknown.

While the ride has been closed and is under investigation McLean said that the only noticeable problem was that a cable was broken, however did not site if that was the cause of the accident. McLean also said that the Kentucky Department of Agriculture Office of Consumer and Environmental Protection had begun inspection Thursday night. Bill Clary the lead spokesman for the Department of Agriculture Office of Consumer and Environmental Protection said, "We don't know the cause and we may never know the cause, honestly."

The Superman Tower of Power ride is placed in view as you walk into the park making this one of the most popular rides there, McLean said. According to their website the ride lifts you approximately 177 feet into the air dropping you at a speed of 54mph, 154 feet. After the incident occurred another popular amusement park, Kings Island in Mason, Ohio shutdown their version called The Drop Zone along with for other rides that were made by the same manufacturer as the Tower of Power in Kentucky, Craig Ross, Cedar Fair LP vice president of marketing, said this morning.

According to the park's website the Drop Zone released in 1999 stands 315 feet in the air and spins up to 40 passengers around a seated ring and then drops them at a free falling speed of 67 mph. It is known as the highest gyro drop in the world reaching 26 stories. Almost 4.5 million people have rode the Drop Zone at King's Island since its inception. Ross also explained that whenever their are similar rides with issues it is very common for additional parks to shutdown their versions of the rides for inspection.

If you would like further information on statistics regarding certain rides at your local amusement park try to contact your local state ride-safety agencies. The last occurrence this severe happened in 1999 when a young 12 year old boy's harness came loose on the Drop Zone in a California park in which he died after falling fifty feet.