Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Derailed

[Michelle]

Very sad.

From what I heard the person who DIED was in his 40s, the person who is the most seriously injured is 22. His injuries do not appear to be life-threatening. The rest of the injured have relatively minor injuries.

 

[Deb in IA]

That's what I heard as well on the ABCnews website. The fatality was listed as a 42 year old man.



Very scary and sad. Big Thunder has always been one of our favorites . . .


Any unofficial local "buzz", Michelle??

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Originally posted by Michelle
From what I heard the person who DIED was in his 40s, the person who is the most seriously injured is 22. His injuries do not appear to be life-threatening. The rest of the injured have relatively minor injuries.

I've read many conflicting reports. There's this from Fox:

Friday , September 05, 2003

ANAHEIM, Calif. — An accident on Disneyland's (search) Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster Friday left a 22-year-old man dead and 10 other riders injured, officials said.

The cause of the man's death and that of the accident, which state and local authorities were investigating, were unclear Friday night.

"We don't know exactly what's happened yet," said Jay Rasulo, president of Disney's theme parks and resorts division. He added that Disney's technical staff had not yet examined the ride.

The man who died, Marcello Torres, of Gardena, was in the first car behind the locomotive, and paramedics extricated his body from inside a tunnel section of the ride, said city spokesman John Nicoletti.

More...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96570,00.html

 

[#1 Disney Fan]

Oh no! That's terrible. How sad.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

But then there's this, which makes you wonder about the reports and what's true:

September 5, 2003, 2:09 PM PDT

ANAHEIM -- A car filled with riders broke loose from a locomotive on Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction today, killing one person and injuring 10 others before the runaway car stopped inside a dark tunnel.

Authorities said the accident occurred about 11:20 a.m. as a small red engine with four open rail cars sped through the faux desert landscape and headed up an incline.

One person was fatally injured as the car parted from the train and rolled back down the grade and into a tunnel, where riders were temporarily trapped.

Officials said one person went into cardiac arrest and was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, where he was pronounced dead. In addition, a 22-year-old man with facial injuries was listed in serious condition, according to Marcida Dodson, a hospital spokeswoman.

More:
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=2517ae9d6297ddc2

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

And this:

ANAHEIM, Calif. 9.5.03, 7:31p -

A 22-year-old man was killed and 10 other riders were injured Friday in an accident on Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster....

The fatality occurred in the first car behind the locomotive. The man died inside the ride and was extricated by paramedics, city spokesman John Nicoletti said. The victim was identified Friday night as Marcello Torres, a resident of Gardena.

One of the other victims had moderate injuries and the other cases were considered minor. Six were taken to the University of California Irvine Medical Center, two were taken to Western Medical Center and two were treated at the scene and released.

The injured included two boys ages 9 and 15, two men ages 20 and 47, and four women ages 19, 21, 37 and 47. The ages of the two people treated at the scene were not available.

More:
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=4e986ca8eec7a9bc

 

[Michelle]

Local news earlier reported the deceased as an unknown age (I read the 40s thing elsewhere) and the most seriously injured man as 22...although his injuries were not life threatening.

Honestly, I rarely watch the local news any more, if I hear anything else credible later I'll post it.

Deb, there are so many conflicting reports, even locally, that it's hard to get the real truth. Sadly, I think it will take a long time to know for sure.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Originally posted by Michelle
Local news earlier reported the deceased as an unknown age (I read the 40s thing elsewhere) and the most seriously injured man as 22...although his injuries were not life threatening.

Yes, I've heard that too.

 

[Michelle]

Latest news is that the deceased man was indeed 22, and the others who were injured did not have life threatening injuries, thankfully.

 

[UrsulasDaBomb]

I rarely watch the news but as I arrived home a little after 10 pm last night, DH dragged me into the living room to watch because he said there was something about DL on it and I needed to see it. I was shocked and just as upset as everyone else about this tragedy.

I wonder what made it derail. I've been to other amusement parks and I know sometimes in fast rides that go up and down inclines at a relatively quick speed, there are often hats, glasses, etc lost and laying on/around the track. Is it possible somebody's belongings were laying on the track and they got caught under the wheels,causing it to derail?


Gayle(UDB)

 

[goofy123]

I was at WDW last week and they had closed Big Thunder Mountain for construction and it was getting old so they had to refermish it, maybe the DL one was getting old so thats why it happened.

 

[Maleficent2]

my sister was just telling me about this. Those poor people and their families...imagine going to the happiest place on earth and having this happen to you or your loved ones.

My heart aches for them.


Mal