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A jury awarded $550,000 to two teenage girls who were left hanging upside down for nearly 30 minutes when an amusement park ride malfunctioned in Oregon.
The jury voted 10-2 this week to award the teens $275,000 each in their case against Oaks Park and ride manufacturer Zamperla over the June 2024 malfunction of the AtmosFEAR ride in Portland, according to FOX 12 Oregon.
About 30 riders were stranded upside down when the spinning pendulum-style ride became stuck in a vertical position on June 14, 2024.
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Portland Fire & Rescue crews responded and worked with park engineers to manually lower the ride. The riders were brought down safely after roughly 25 minutes and medically evaluated.
Oaks Park said in a statement to FOX 12 following the verdict:
“While we agree that the ride should not have become stuck, we are grateful that all of the riders are safe, and this incident is now resolved,” the statement read. “Safety is our top priority, and we will continue to work with ride manufacturers and state inspectors to ensure rider safety.”
The family of one of the teens, identified as Evie, said Thursday that the lawsuit was intended to seek accountability.
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“We filed this lawsuit to seek accountability and justice. Not only should the ride have never malfunctioned, but the crisis was further exacerbated by the lack of a safety plan at Oaks Park. They did not possess any knowledge of how to fix the ride if it got stuck in the inverted position, and did not have a tool at the park to lower the ride and rescue the riders,” they told FOX 12.
“That required calling a 1-800 number to even know how to fix the ride, then wait for first responders to arrive on scene, and for the first responders to provide the tool. Additionally, Oaks Park evacuated the park without providing traffic control, which delayed first responders from being able to enter the park quickly in an emergency, prolonging suffering.”
The malfunction occurred on the park’s first day of the summer season. Video from the incident showed riders suspended vertically as people gathered below.
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A spokesperson for Zamperla and Oaks Park did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
