GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Latest on three girls’ fall from a Ferris wheel (all times local):
6 p.m.
Two of the three girls injured when they fell from a Ferris wheel at an eastern Tennessee fair have been released from the hospital.
Niswonger Children’s Hospital spokeswoman Meaghan Smith told The Greeneville Sun (http://bit.ly/2bl8gdk ) on Thursday that 10-year-old Kayla Reynolds and an unidentified 16-year-old were released.
Kayla’s 6-year-old sister, Briley Jae Reynolds, remains hospitalized in critical condition.
The girls fell from the ride at the Greene County Fair on Monday. Private inspectors believe a mechanical failure likely caused the gondola to flip over, sending the girls plummeting 30 to 45 feet to the ground.
Workers were dismantling the rides at the fair earlier Thursday, and the fair will run through Saturday without rides.
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3 p.m.
Workers are dismantling the rides at the eastern Tennessee fair where three girls plunged from a Ferris wheel.
The Greeneville Sun reports (http://bit.ly/2blJd5R) that operator Family Attractions Amusement will not re-open any of its rides following Monday’s accident in which the girls were knocked out of their gondola and fell between 30 and 45 feet to the ground.
The Ferris wheel was to remain standing until the state gave permission to take it down. Inspectors hired by the ride operator say the incident was likely caused by mechanical failure.
The Greene County Fair will run through Saturday without the rides.
Meanwhile, WBIR-TV reports (http://on.wbir.com/2aNlbSH) that organizers at the Fentress County Agricultural Fair about 120 miles west of Greeneville are hoping Family Attractions will be cleared to run rides there next week.
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3 a.m.
The organizers of the eastern Tennessee fair where three girls fell from a Ferris wheel kept their ride operator despite an incident across the state line that injured five and caused the owners’ son to be jailed.
Private inspectors believe a mechanical failure likely caused the gondola to flip over Monday, sending three girls plummeting 30 to 45 feet to the ground.
The ride was operated by a Georgia-based company called Family Attractions Amusement, which was involved in another high-profile carnival accident three years ago.
At the North Carolina State Fair in October 2013, five people were injured when an Italian-made ride called the Vortex unexpectedly restarted as they were trying to get off the ride, flinging them through the air and down to the steel deck below. Instigators determined that a safety mechanism had been disabled by ride operators.