Safety bar had failed before

CLOSED . . . the Miami Trip ride

THE safety bar failed on a funfair ride three days before a mother-of-five was taken to hospital after a similar incident, it has been claimed.

As reported in the Chronicle, several thrillseekers were injured in the terrifying incident on the Miami Trip ride in Hollinwood last Tuesday.

But some visitors to the Blackpool Comes to Oldham fair say the same thing happened on the previous Saturday — and allege staff failed to act.

Furious Sayra Parvin (24), of Garforth Street, Chadderton, was on the ride with her 13-year-old brother Thoyob Ali.

The attraction, which whizzes everybody 15ft into the air, had completed one revolution when the safety bar running its length rose above their heads.

She said: “As soon as the bar came up, I slipped and my brother started crying.

“We were screaming. We held on to the handle — it must have come half-way down above our chests.”

The attraction stopped and the attendant pulled the bar down. Some people stayed on, but the pair got off before it started again. We forced ourselves off it. Everybody was laughing at us but I wasn’t bothered. I would rather be laughed at than dead,” said the 24-year-old who suffered a badly bruised leg.

But she claims she was ignored when she asked staff for the management so she could report the incident.

She added: “I tried to raise this on the Saturday. If they had taken any notice it wouldn’t have happened again.”

Shima Das, from Ashton, suffered internal bleeding, neck injury and a badly bruised back when the same thing happened three days later.

She was taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital by ambulance where she had X-rays before being discharged, but has been left unable move because of the pain.

Shima went on Miami Trip with her sister. She said: “We had been on three times before.

“Just as the ride started going up, the bar flew up in the air. We were holding on to the bar for our lives and screaming.”

The 31-year-old slipped, hitting her back on a plastic leg support before ending up on her sister’s lap. She added: “I thought I was going to die. When the ride stopped, I was in that much agony I couldn’t move.

“I can’t move and my husband and a friend are helping me. I can’t even go to the toilet without assistance.

“The horrible thing is, because I have been in bed the last few days, I have hardly seen my children.”

Michael Todd (24) broke his rib in the same incident while his girlfriend and five members of her family suffered whiplash and bruising.

The ride was then closed. Investigations are being carried out by the manufacturer and the Health and Safety Executive.

Blackpool Comes to Oldham is at Manchester Road until March 1.

Organiser Jan de Koning said after Tuesday’s incident that the ride had undergone its annual safety check a week before the fair opened.

He added: “I am not aware of any incident. I have spoken to the ride operator and the only incident that occurred that Saturday was when two large men were on the ride and the bar wouldn’t close. They were asked to come off.

“The ride was closed for two days after Tuesday’s incident and the ride manufacturer gave extensive checks as did the testing engineer. It passed with a clean bill of health.”