Ohio State Fair Accident Kills One, Hurts Several Others

This Wednesday, an accident involving a ride called the Fire Ball at the Ohio State Fair killed one man and injured seven other people.

About the Fatal Thrill Ride Accident

NBC News states that a trooper placed a call around 7:24 pm on Wednesday to report the horrific accident that occurred at the Ohio State Fair.

The ride that malfunctioned and caused the accident is called the Fire Ball, which swings from side to side like a pendulum.

The accident was captured on camera and was posted to YouTube. The video shows the pendulum swinging to one side while the seats start breaking off, and then shows people being flung into the air and dropping down onto the ground.

The man killed from the accident was 18-year-old Tyler Jarrell of Columbus, Ohio. The people who were injured in this accident were Tamika Dunlap, 36; Russell Franks, 42; Keziah Lewis, 19; Jacob Andrews, 22, Jennifer Lambert, 18; and Abdihakim Hussein, 19.

It was reported that the ride had been inspected multiple times a few days prior to the accident, and it had received regular inspections once the fair opened.

Ohio Governor John Kasich has ordered an investigation of the accident and has had all of the rides at the state fair closed while more safety inspections are completed.

Amusement Ride Accident Statistics

• According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), amusement park attractions resulted in 30,900 injuries requiring hospital emergency department attention in 2016 alone.
• Since 2010, there have been 22 fatalities attributed to thrill ride accidents.
• Most amusement ride injuries involved children 10-14 years old (17.9%), with children 5-9 (12.6%) and 15-19 years old (13.8%) next, but with many victims 0-4 years old (6.3%).
• Females (60.8%) were injured about 1.5 times more often than males (39.2%), and this difference held across ride sites, age groups, injured body parts, and diagnoses.