Riders at an amusement park in Portland, Oregon found themselves on one hell of a ride late last week when they were stuck dangling in midair for half an hour as amusement park employees and rescuers tried to get them down.
In a viral TikTok taken by another visitor to the park, we can see the riders suspended in the air on the Oaks Park ride for an extended period of time — long enough for the man recording to ride the ferris wheel, exit the park and join the stream of cars leaving after the park announced it was closing early.
In his follow-up video, we see that he’s now in his car leaving the park while the riders are still stuck in the air and emergency vehicles were heading to the scene. Near the end of the video, the ride finally starts swinging from side to side before coming to a stop and allowing the riders to escape.
One of the riders who was stuck posted their own TikTok about the ordeal, sharing that she and the 10 friends she was on the ride with thought they were going to die. She revealed that they received no reassurances from the employees, “instead we just saw them putting their hands on their head as in we were not going to make it.”
She also shared that firefighters checked everyone’s vitals, and fortunately, people were largely okay, although many had lingering headaches, nausea and soreness, and several people vomited. In her caption, she revealed that all Oaks Park offered was a $50 refund, but she and her friends, along with their families, are considering their legal options.
According to a statement released by Oaks Park, the ride, which has been in operation since 2021 with no previous incidents, will remain closed until further notice as the park works with the manufacturer and state inspectors to identify the cause of the stoppage.
Comments