The “Wild Twister” ride at Hong Kong’s Ocean Park has been suspended after a malfunction left 17 passengers stranded mid-air for more than an hour.
In a notice published on its website, Ocean Park said that the Wild Twister detected a “failure signal” at 6.20pm on Sunday, which activated the safety protection system and suspended the ride.
“With the assistance of the Fire Services Department, ride operators escorted passengers to exit the ride at 7:37pm. All 17 passengers on board returned safely to the ground at 8:07pm. No injuries were reported,” the theme park said.
“Ocean Park is performing inspections and repeat testing” on the ride, it added.
Consisting of six extended arms, each seating six passengers, the Wild Twister spins and swings with up to four times the force of gravity.
Not the first time
Sunday’s incident was not the first time the Wild Twister malfunctioned. In March 2021, a malfunction left more than a dozen passengers stranded mid-air for six minutes, according to local media.
Ocean Park also experienced other incidents this year.
In May, its rotating viewing tower, the Ocean Park Tower, was suspended following a signal failure, leaving 17 passengers stuck for around two hours.
In March, Ocean Park closed the upper section of its theme park, “The Summit,” due to a cable car signalling fault.
HKFP has reached out to Ocean Park for comment.
