The ferris wheel is usually among the least intimidating amusement rides out there, but some fair-goers in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta must now be grateful to have survived what could have been a fatal ferris wheel malfunction.
As seen in a viral video, taken at a night market in Yogyakarta yesterday, the ferris wheel was operating normally when, all of a sudden, several of its pods flipped upside down while people were still inside.
https://youtu.be/ybpfO3XuxUY
From the video, it appears that the ferris wheel made half a turn before operators stopped the ride, at which point several people were seen hanging on for dear life while some sat on the ceiling of the upside-down pods.
A few people then climbed up the wheel to rescue those still trapped, including what looked like a small child at the 00:30 mark.
Thankfully, there were no reports of any injuries as a result of the malfunction. The Yogyakarta Police say they have summoned the ride operators for an investigation, and, based on their initial finding, it appears that the pods flipped due to technical issues related to the screws holding them up.
“That is our initial suspicion. We will investigate further,” Yogyakarta Police Crime Investigation Unit Head Commissioner Sutikno told Kompas today.
