A video posted on social media has appeared to show part of an amusement park ride in India crashing to the ground with dozens of people on board.
According to the local network New Delhi Television (NDTV), on Sunday evening (September 4), a drop tower at a fair in Mohali, in the state of Punjab, suddenly malfunctioned.
The circular platform where riders were seated had reached the top of the vertical structure when it suddenly plummeted to the ground.
The impact threw fairground goers from their seats as it collided with the platform below. The New York Post reports that at least 16 people have been injured in the accident, including children, with five admitted to a nearby hospital.
This is the moment a fairground ride crashed after falling nearly 50 feet:In the video, onlookers can be heard screaming next to the ride, watching as their loved ones drop straight down without stopping. The footage also showed the spinning drop tower losing speed before plummeting down instead of slowing.
Reportedly, carnival management staff and fairground bouncers exited the scene after the impact, per Daily Mail, with police opening up an investigation into what caused the accident.
Deputy superintendent of police Harsimran Singh Bal told the Indian Express: "A carnival was being organized and the eyewitness told us that there was a technical snag in the swing and it had fallen."
Three men and two women were admitted to the Phase-6 Civil Hospital for head and neck injuries after the fall and The Hindustan Times reported that children as young as 10 were being treated at Fortis Hospital - a medical facility near the fair.
Several Indian publications have said that there had been no ambulances on standby at the fair. Journalist Nikhil Choudhary who filmed the video of the accident said he didn't see any emergency vehicles present at the time of the incident but said ambulances arrived a few minutes later.
According to Business Standard, people who were present during the incident claimed that no safety measures were taken at the amusement park.
The Mohali Trade Fair - which has now been shut down - was to continue till September 11 this year. The Mohali Deputy Commissioner Amit Talwar said officers are opening an inquiry into whether the organizers had a license to carry the carnival.
Sunny Singh, one of the organizers of the festival, told the outlet they had operated the ride many times before but "this has never happened". He also said that he intends to cooperate with the police.
The incident is under investigation.
