The incident happened on a state fair ride in eastern Tennessee earlier this week.
Three children were injured after falling from a ferris wheel at a fair in eastern Tennessee, according to media reports. One of those three children is like to remain in critical condition.
Niswonger Children’s Hospital Dr. Bracken Burns said in a press conference on Tuesday that the first patient was a 16-year-old girl, who is currently in critical condition, although she did well through the night and doctors are hopeful she will be downgraded to stable condition. The other two patients are her sisters, one who was 10 and sustained injuries to her forearm, and a 6-year-old girl who was evaluated at the trauma center for a brain injury and is also in critical condition and more likely to remain that way for the time being.
Authorities inspected the ferris wheel in Greene County back in June and found no violations, according to the reports.
One eyewitness account reported by WJHL indicated that the girls fell from the ferris wheel when the car got caught as the wheel lifted them upwards, and they spilled out onto the ground. They then apparently bounced of the metal structure before hitting the ground.
All rides operated at the Greene County Fair were shut down after the incident and will remain closed until inspections are completed, according to reports. The Greene County Fair will also be contracting third party investigators.
The rest of the events at the fair will continue on as planned.
Ferris wheels are popular fair rides that take people to great heights on a relatively slow moving wheel. As a result, they don’t have many of the safety enhancements that roller coasters have.
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