PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. (AP) – Two women and a 7-year-old boy are recovering after falling from a Ferris wheel in Washington state.
KOMO-TV reports the incident happened Thursday evening in Port Townsend during the town’s annual Rhododendron Festival.
A witness told rescue officials that a Ferris wheel cart flopped upside down, ejecting the three people.
The two women and the boy fell 15 to 18 feet and landed on the ride’s metal flooring. Officials say a 59-year-old woman was in critical condition, but is expected to recover. The injuries to the other woman and the boy weren’t life-threatening.
“It’s not what we do. It’s not what we’re in business for. This is a terrible, terrible thing,” the company’s president, Ronald Burback said during an interview with KIRO.
The ride was shut down and cordoned off for an investigation.
The festival says authorities and the company that owns the carnival equipment are investigating.