pooh2001
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http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/apress_080405_playlandUPD.html
Search for Answers after Boy Dies on Water Ride
(Rye-AP, August 4, 2005)
A seven-year-old Connecticut boy was found dead in the water of a boat ride at the Playland amusement park in Westchester after he didn't emerge from a tunnel. Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano says "one family left this park without their son."
The boy, whose name was not made public, was from Norwalk, Connecticut. He was found underneath the conveyer belt that runs Ye Old Mill -- a boat-in-the-dark amusement ride on the midway. Spano says the 77-year-old ride is "one of our most benign rides."
The ride, which was renovated three years ago to modernize its scenery, consists of 14 boats propelled into a tunnel that features gnomes and trolls. The water is two-and-a-half feet deep at its deepest, and instructions tell riders to stay seated and keep their hands inside their boats.
The boy, who was at the park with his mother, got on the ride by himself after passing the 42-inch height requirement for riding alone and was the only person in his boat. Spano says He "got out of the boat and was caught somehow on the conveyer belt."
The park remained open after the boy's death, but Ye Old Mill and nearby attractions were shut down.
Spano says the state Department of Labor would investigate the death, which was the park's second in 15 months.
In May 2004, a seven-year-old girl was killed on Playland's Mind Scrambler, which was spinning riders around in a darkened tent to flashing lights and loud music. Investigators concluded that Stephanie Dieudonne, of New Rochelle, wriggled free of the restraining bar on one of the Mind Scrambler's cars, knelt on the seat and fell soon after the ride started.
Playland has more than 50 rides, a pool and a beach on Long Island Sound. It has more than a million patrons a year.
Search for Answers after Boy Dies on Water Ride
(Rye-AP, August 4, 2005)
A seven-year-old Connecticut boy was found dead in the water of a boat ride at the Playland amusement park in Westchester after he didn't emerge from a tunnel. Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano says "one family left this park without their son."
The boy, whose name was not made public, was from Norwalk, Connecticut. He was found underneath the conveyer belt that runs Ye Old Mill -- a boat-in-the-dark amusement ride on the midway. Spano says the 77-year-old ride is "one of our most benign rides."
The ride, which was renovated three years ago to modernize its scenery, consists of 14 boats propelled into a tunnel that features gnomes and trolls. The water is two-and-a-half feet deep at its deepest, and instructions tell riders to stay seated and keep their hands inside their boats.
The boy, who was at the park with his mother, got on the ride by himself after passing the 42-inch height requirement for riding alone and was the only person in his boat. Spano says He "got out of the boat and was caught somehow on the conveyer belt."
The park remained open after the boy's death, but Ye Old Mill and nearby attractions were shut down.
Spano says the state Department of Labor would investigate the death, which was the park's second in 15 months.
In May 2004, a seven-year-old girl was killed on Playland's Mind Scrambler, which was spinning riders around in a darkened tent to flashing lights and loud music. Investigators concluded that Stephanie Dieudonne, of New Rochelle, wriggled free of the restraining bar on one of the Mind Scrambler's cars, knelt on the seat and fell soon after the ride started.
Playland has more than 50 rides, a pool and a beach on Long Island Sound. It has more than a million patrons a year.
I wish that theme parks could be exempt from this kind of thing happening by some kind of magic.
