Freaky And Deadly Theme Park Accidents

#1 The Deadliest Theme Park Accidents Ever

Theme parks are meant to be wondrous and fun places where adults and children alike can enjoy themselves on various rides and attractions. They are often described as some of the happiest places on Earth and famous examples like Disney World are able to attract millions of visitors every single year. Things can go wrong, even though they are usually incredibly safe. Unfortunately, when accidents do happen at theme parks, the consequences can be severe and those involved will often suffer serious injuries or even death.

#2 Battersea Park Fun Fair, England

England's Battersea Park Fun Fair had been operating for 20 years with the creaky old wooden coaster the "Big Dipper" its main attraction until one day in late May 1972 when the rope that carries cars to the top of a hill snapped, sending several cars careening backward and ultimately crushing five children to death. Thirteen others were injured. The Big Dipper was shut down, and the park followed suit two years later.

#3 Action Park, Vernon New Jersey

Action Park is known as one of the most dangerous, deadliest, theme parks ever built, accounting for at least six deaths and over 200 major injuries. It was opened in 1978 and closed in 1996 due to injury reports and a decline in customers. It also had one of the first water parks in modern America. Six people are known to have died from rides at Action Park, due to drownings, electrocution, a heart attack, and a face smashed on a rock.

The most dangerous attraction at Action Park was the wave pool, nicknamed the "Grave Pool" by locals. It was the first turbulent water-bound mosh pit of its kind, with at least 12 lifeguards always on duty and as many as 30 saves being performed over a busy weekend.

The park was shut down in 1996 amidst lawsuits, and reopened as Mountain Creek Waterpark in 1998, focusing on upgraded safety precautions. They changed their name back to Action Park in April, 2014 and it remains open.

#4 Disneyland, Florida

A four-year-old boy was left paralyzed and with life-threatening injuries in 2000 when his safety bar failed to lock in place and he fell out of his car on the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin ride. He became trapped under the car, which effectively folded his body underneath it. Around nine years later, the then 13-year-old unfortunately died from complications while in the hospital.

#5 Middlemoor Water Park, Somerset, England

It probably isn't a great idea to combine one of the most powerful medieval siege weapons, built to hurl boulders at castle walls, with human subjects. For bored residents of Somerset, England, it must have seemed like a good idea at the time. Middlemoor Water Park came up with the winning combination of "powerful siege engine" and "awesome amusement park ride for all ages" in Oxford's Dangerous Sports Club's authentic period-piece trebuchet.

Suffice it to say, not the most accurate or safest device ever invented. After two Oxford undergraduates unfortunately missed the proposed safety net and splattered on the ground, police arrested the two ride operators and charged them with the classic indictment of "operating a medieval siege weapon without a license." At least that's how the story goes.

#6 Waterworld USA, California

In 1997, the water slide at Waterworld USA in California turned deadly. 33 school teens decided to all gather into one slide at once and causing the entire ride to collapse under the weight. Water slides are the top cause of injury ar most theme parks from data released in 2015.

One 17-year-old died from a crushed chest, and all 32 others were taken to hospitals. Later that month, at the graduation ceremony, 17 students accepted their diplomas in wheelchairs.

#7 Darien Lake Amusement Park, Buffalo New York

Known as one of the worst roller coaster accidents in recent history, this tragic incident is devastating. In 2011, an Iraq war vet who had lost both of his legs during the war wanted to enjoy the day at the amusement park. He had asked the staff which of the rides were safest for him to ride. They had decided the Ride of Steel would be safe, however, it turned out to be his last. He slid to his terrifying death when he slipped through the harness when one of the trains went racing over a small incline.

#8 Royal Adelaide Show, South Australia

In 2014, at South Australia's Royal Adelaide Show, an 8-year-old girl suffered fatal injuries in a 30-foot fall from a spinning thrill ride called Airmaxx 360. According to witnesses, the accident happened suddenly. The girl was seen briefly hanging from the ride by her legs but quickly fell onto the midway.

#9 Overseas China Town East Theme Park, China

Designed to simulate the launch of a rocket, Space Journey killed six people and injured dozens more in 2010. The ride had about 40 passengers aboard when one of the cabins came loose and collided with the others causing them to fall 50 feet to the ground. The ride had been inspected earlier that day and passed requirements. Two of the six killed were younger than the rides required age restrictions.

#10 Six Flags Over Georgia, Atlanta Georgia

A 17-year-old boy was decapitated by the ride while trying to recover his lost hat in 2008. He had lost his hat during the ride and wanted it back; despite all the warnings, he climbed the fence to retrieve the hat and was decapitated by the 80 km per hour ride. Six years prior, a similar event happened during which a groundskeeper died when he was hit by the leg of a passenger while the roller coaster was rolling. Though not the fault of the ride, it shows how dangerous these machines can be if the warnings are not adhered to.

#11 Galaxyland Amusement Park, Alberta Canada

The Mindbender is the world's largest indoor triple loop roller coaster. It is also a roller coaster with one the worst accidents of all time. Originally dubbed one of the "safest rides in the world" by German manufacturers of the coaster, that was anything but the case on the evening of June 14, 1986.

That day, the worst nightmare of roller coaster riders happened: Missing bolts on the left inside wheel assembly of the last car caused the four-car-train to disengage from the track. The final car fishtailed wildly, colliding with support structures, throwing off passengers, stalling at the final loop, sliding backwards, and then crashing into a concrete pillar.

Five of the people on that car were killed, either by falling to the ground or hanging on the track, with the fourth man seriously injured in the chest and neck.

#12 Expoland, Osaka Japan

The six-car Fujin Raijin II roller coaster at Expoland, on which passengers stand through the course of the ride, derailed and hit a guardrail after a wheel axle on one of the cars broke.

The coaster, which can travel up to 75 kph, was in the last half of the 1,050-meter-long course when the accident occurred in 2007.

The attraction is about 40 meters high and the ride can carry 24 people. It was carrying 20 passengers at the time of the accident. Five people died instantly and 19 others were critically injured.

#13 Six Flags Kentucky, Louisville Kentucky

In 2007, as the ride ascended, cables were snapping and slapping a group of teenage girls in the face and torso. They yelled for them to stop the ride, but it was all the way up and began to drop. The cables snapping injured many of the passengers and one of the girls lost both of her feet and another died of head injuries before the train came to an emergency.

#14 Oakwood Theme Park, Wales

In 2014, a 16-year-old girl was enjoying a day at the Oakwood Theme Park with her family. Riding on the park's water coaster, "Drenched," she was hurtled 30 meters to the ground from her car which caused severe internal injuries, eventually leading to her death. After she died, the park closed for a full year and when they reopened they had renamed the water ride, Drenched.

#15 Kings Island, Mason Ohio

This park is still open, despite a series of mishaps on June 9, 1991.

A man fell into a pond, but when his friend William Haithcoat, 20, and Darrel Robertson, 20, tried to rescue him all three were electrocuted. It killed the rescuers while the man who fell survived.

Just an hour later, in an unconnected event, Candy Taylor, 32, fell from a ride called the Flight Commander and died on impact.

The grounds of King's Island have thought to be haunted since the tragic events of June 9, 1991. An episode of SyFy channel's Ghost Hunters was filmed at the park in 2012, and people have reported sightings of a little ghost girl in a blue dress.

#16 Coney Island, New York

The Cyclone was built in 1927 and has been linked to six rider deaths over the last 25 years, including a man who stood up from his seat one day in 1985, only to fatally smack his head on a crossbeam. The ride was already falling apart in 2001 when it underwent a major renovation. However in 2015 alone the historic Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster broke down mid-ride at least 24 times, leaving a handful of riders trapped.

#17 State Fair, Montana

At the Montana State Fair in 2013, an accident involving a Zipper ride injured a woman who fell 8-10 feet as she was exiting her car.

"It looks like one of the cars may have been higher than it should have been during regular unloading," said John Hanschen, the president of Mighty Thomas Carnival, which operates the ride.

The woman suffered an apparent long term head injury as well as a broken spine and was hospitalized.

#18 Lagoon Amusement Park, Utah

While onboard a kids' coaster called Puff the Little Fire Dragon at Utah's Lagoon Amusement Park in 1989, a six-year-old boy fell out of his car and beneath the train tracks. The problem was, the operator sent the train around the track again. As the boy stood up, the car struck him in the head, instantly killing him.

#19 Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey

Surprisingly, the worst accident in the history of theme parks wasn't from a catapulted roller coaster or space simulation gone wrong. It was from a haunted house: One of the few "rides" where people are on their feet, not suspended in the air, and it seems almost impossible that such a tragedy could happen here, short of everyone suffering a fear-induced heart attack (which was not the case).

Eight teenagers were tragically killed in a blaze that seriously injured dozens of people.

As if straight out of Carrie, the horrific event took place on May 11, 1984, when the castle burst into flames. The wind-whipped flames soared to over 2,000 degrees, melting the metal walls and turning the interior into a raging inferno. Most of the people inside the castle escaped safely, but eight teenagers became trapped and died in the blaze. Their bodies were torched beyond recognition. The park was brought up on charges for lacking safety precautions like sprinklers and smoke detectors, but Six Flags escaped responsibility because the castle was considered a "temporary structure." Arson was a likely cause of the fire.