Two sisters die celebrating birthday at Enugu amusement park

The death of two young sisters on Monday evening at the Oakland Amusement Park, Enugu State, where they had gone for a birthday party, has been attributed to panic, according to management of the park.

Three survivors of the incident, who sustained vary degree of injuries, are currently being treated at the Intensive Care Unit of the Niger Foundation Hospital, while another one is being treated at the Memfy’s Specialist hospital.

The Guardian gathered yesterday that the two girls, aged between eight and nine, had joined other members of the family to mark the birthday of one of their relatives at the park and catch their fun by taking a ride on some of the centre’s facilities.

Sources said one of the rides they went on had malfunctioned while in motion and had thrown its occupants out.

However, narrating the incident in which six persons, including the operator, were wounded, the Park Manager, Mr. Nwubani Vincent, yesterday told The Guardian that the Coffee Cup machine, which caused the accident leading to the death of the young girls, did not “malfunction”.

According to him, the park has been in existence for about four years without any casualty. “What happened here was that there was an accident on Monday evening around 6.00p.m. A family of 12 with their guardians came for a birthday party. They had gone on a number of rides and decided to go on a Coffee Cup ride.

“The Coffee Cup is a ride that has nine cups and it rotates when it is switched on by the operator. When the ride started, there was panic. Usually, what happens is that if the children get panicked and start screaming, the operator shuts it down or decreases the speed.

“But in this case, the children got panicked and attempted to get off the ride. Out of panic, people rushed even to the control consul to stop the ride and in that confusion, somebody pressed the wrong button, which increased the speed. This made some of the already frightened children fell off the ride.”

He stated that when the ride was eventually stopped, six of them had sustained injuries, adding that two others, who didn’t fall out were not hurt. “The six of them that were injured were immediately rushed to the hospital and while being treated at the hospital, two of them passed on.

“The rest are still at the hospital and in stable condition. Our operator was injured as well because of his attempt at calming the situation. The operator, who was on the ride with the children had been here for two years and cumulatively he had operated that ride for over five thousand people without any casualty. It will be inappropriate for anybody to say that he did not know what he was doing,” Vincent said.

Meanwhile, the management of the centre has closed down the park in honour of the deceased, while taking the opportunity to reorganize its operations.

Efforts to get the names of the victims proved abortive. At the Niger Foundation Hospital, where The Guardian encountered some of the family members, they refused to disclose to identities of the children on the grounds that it is a painful period for the family.

When contacted however, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ebere Amaraizu, said the incident had not been reported to the police.

“I want to tell you that we don’t have any record of that incident. We have been hearing it as rumour. It is like they want to conceal it. But anytime they report it we will follow it up,” he said.