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Authorities in Greenville, Tennesee say three children fell from a ferris wheel, dropping 30-to-45 feet to the ground on Monday night. All three were hospitalized and were said to be responsive and answering questions. (Aug. 9) AP
Emergency crews unload the ferris wheel Aug. 8, 2016, at the Greene County Fair in Greeneville, Tenn., after three girls fell 30 to 45 feet from one of the baskets.(Photo: Dale Long, AP)
GREENEVILLE, Tenn.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— A 6-year-old girl suffered a traumatic brain injury and was in critical condition Tuesday after she and two other girls<span style="color: Red;">*</span>fell from a Ferris wheel at the Greene County Fair.
Around 6:15 p.m. ET Monday, one of the Ferris wheel's baskets overturned and dumped the three children out, Greeneville police captain Tim Davis said. The children fell 35 to 45 feet.
The young girl's 10-year-old sister suffered injuries to her forearms, said Dr. Bracken Burns, director of trauma services at Johnson City (Tenn.) Medical Center 25 miles away where the girls were transported<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— two by helicopter and one by ambulance. He said he could not talk about the 16-year-old's injuries.
Police in this town of 15,000 residents<span style="color: Red;">*</span>about 75 miles northeast of Knoxville, Tenn.,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>have not been able to confirm reports that the seat of the basket was rocking before it toppled. Davis said no one interviewed Monday indicated that they saw that.
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"Halfway, the bar came loose and two little girls, about 7 years old, fell from there all the way down and they hit their head and were just laying there, lifeless, and then the mom (likely the 16-year-old)<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was up above them just hanging," witness Lisa Bruner of Greeneville said. "They had to climb up and get her to make sure she didn't fall. The two little girls just fell to the ground and hit their heads real hard."
Two of the children were transported by helicopter, and the third, via ambulance, to Johnson City Medical Center, Davis said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>All three children had been awake, alert and coherently answering questions Monday night<span style="color: Red;">*</span>at the hospital.
Greeneville Fire Department rescuers help people off the Ferris wheel Aug. 8, 2016, at the Greene County Fair in Greeneville, Tenn., were three girls were injured after falling 35 to 40 feet from one of the baskets.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: O.J. Early, AP)
“We have no idea how these machines function,” he said. “We have to wait for the inspectors to get here and to actually look at the device and see if they can determine if it was mechanical in nature or something else.”
All rides operated by Family Attractions Amusement company were closed after the accident and won’t reopen until a third-party inspection is complete and state and fair officials approve it, said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Bobby Holt, acting president of Greene County Fair Board.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The food vendors and smaller games are allowed to stay open.
The fair board also is hiring its own independent investigator, Holt said.
“We treat it like a crime scene until we determine there’s no foul play,” Davis said. “We don’t know at this time what caused the accident.”
The fair had its opening day Monday and is scheduled to continue through Saturday.
With summer comes county fairs across the USA and accidents on amusement rides. Among the most recent:
• July 25.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>A woman was injured at the Frederick County Fair in Clear Brook, Va.,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>after the cables on a Super Shot ride snapped and the single seat in which she was secured detached from the ride and dropped about 40 feet.
• July 24.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Five people were injured on an Octopus ride<span style="color: Red;">*</span>at the Cass County Fair in Atlantic, Iowa, the Omaha World-Herald reported. They were about 20 feet in the air when the arms holding up their cars slammed to the ground.
• May 7.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Elizabeth Gilreath, 11, received critical injuries when her scalp was torn away after she fell out of her seat on the King's Crown ride at Omaha's Cinco de Mayo festival, the Omaha World-Herald reported.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>State investigators said the ride appeared to have been functioning normally but they are looking at what restraints were used on the ride.
Also injured recently was a carnival worker at the Stephenson County Fair in Freeport, Ill. The employee was servicing a ride called Speed that spins people through the air when a piece of the ride fell on him, the (Freeport, Ill.) Journal Standard reported.
Contributing: WUSA-TV, Washington; The Associated Press
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