Amateur footage shows one of the boys trapped against railings following the carriage collapse / ©YouTube
Amateur footage has emerged of the Billy Bates Funfair ride collapsing and injuring two teenage boys.
A mobile phone-filmed video, submitted to the Leicester Mercury newspaper and viewable on YouTube, shows a carriage seating the boys detach from its connection arm and hit perimeter barriers.
The newspaper reports that yesterday one of the teenagers was in intensive care and had surgery after suffering a broken arm, ribs and chest injuries.
The other teenager was being treated for a broken nose and teeth in the incident, which occurred at the fairground in Leicester at approximately 6:30pm on Saturday.
‘Screaming’
The Mega Bounce flat ride was not in its full cycle – in which the arms rigorously bounce the carriages up and down – but in its early sedate circulating motion.
Eyewitness Jatinder Virdee told the Leicester Mercury: “It was like something from the horror film Final Destination. It was shocking.
“The ride had gone round about three times and then the bit carrying two youngsters flew off into the barriers.
“That was when the mayhem started. Everybody was screaming. It was a nightmare,” she said.
Billy Bates had reportedly subcontracted the ride from another company and Abbey Park fair was the first time it had been used.
The Health and Safety Executive has impounded the ride for investigation and it has now been dismantled and removed from the site.
The fair, located at Abbey Park in Leicester, re-opened today for the first time since the incident.