A TECHNICAL fault was to blame for the accident at the Battle of Flowers funfair on Friday 1 August, when two 12-year-old girls were flung out of a ride just half an hour after the fair was opened.
One girl broke her pelvic bone during the fall and is still on crutches after the safety bar that was supposed to keep her and her friend inside the Mega Bounce ride flipped up as it was moving.
The girl was knocked unconscious when she hit her head on a metal light as she was thrown from the ride. The Mega Bounce is now on its way back to the UK after Jersey’s Health and Safety Inspectorate identified that a technical fault caused the safety bar to fail to lock.
It is too early to say whether there will be any prosecutions because the Inspectorate is still gathering evidence. Its director, Colin Myers, said: ‘It was a technical problem which was causing the bar not to lock into position. The locking arrangement for the bar had failed. The ride operator has decided to take the ride away because he thought it was better to dismantle it.’
Article posted on 13th August, 2008 - 2.58pm
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