A Teenager Fell Off A Drop Tower Ride & Died At An Orlando Amusement Park
The new ride is the "tallest free-standing drop tower."
The Orlando Free Fall ride. Right: A Ferris wheel and the Orlando Free Fall.
A 14-year-old boy has died after falling from a ride at a Florida amusement park on Thursday night.
The incident happened around 11 p.m. at ICON Park in Orlando, NBC Miami reports. Witnesses said they saw the teenager fall off a ride called the Orlando Free Fall, reported CNN.
The boy was transported to a local hospital where he died from his injuries, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said in a news release to multiple outlets.
"This death investigation is in its very early stages," police said.
It's unclear how exactly the teenager fell from the ride.
The relatively new ride called The Orlando Free Fall opened to the public in January as one of the tallest rides of its kind.
ICON Park's website says the ride "stands at 430 feet, making it the world's tallest free-standing drop tower."
The ride can accommodate 30 riders at one go and is supposed to give riders a beautiful view of the park from up top.
"Once the ride vehicle reaches the top, it'll tilt forward 30 degrees and face the ground before free-falling nearly 400 feet at speeds reaching over 75 mph [120 km/h]," says the website.
A spokesperson for the ride operator says they are cooperating with the investigation.
"We operate the ride with all the safety precautions in mind. Everything is in place. And this is why we're doing this investigation," John Stine of the Slingshot Group told local broadcaster WESH.
He added that the Free Fall and the SlingShot — another ride at the park — will be closed indefinitely.
This isn't the first time someone has died at the park.
A park worker reportedly fell to his death while performing maintenance on a ride back in 2020, the New York Post reports.
The identity of the teenager has not been released.
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