News: 18 people injured in accident on Wild Thing

Posted at 7:28 PM EDT (2328 GMT)

May. 21st, 2006 -- Eighteen people suffered minor injuries in an accident aboard the Wild Thing roller coaster at the Valleyfair! amusement park this Sunday, authorities and park officials said.

Fourteen people were taken to St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Shakopee, while four refused medical attention, officials said.

The rear car on one of the roller coaster's coaches separated from the others about 4:25 p.m. at a point where the trains slow down as they enter the ride station, Valleyfair spokesman Bill Von Bank said. The Wild Thing reaches speeds of up to 74 mph, but it would have been braking and going much slower at that point, he said.

The car came to a stop on a tilted angle along the track. Park officials had the car covered with an orange tarp.

Bailey Merchant, 12, of Shakopee, said she was in the rear car when the middle car of the three on the train started jerking and smoking. She said the middle car then "fell right off the track
and made the last car turn over."

Katelyn Churchich, 16, of Oakdale, said she was in the middle car when it happened.

"It started jerking and moving around, like, not right," she said. "We kind of heard scratching and we didn't know anything was wrong until we smelled metal grinding with each other, and then
when we looked back one of the cars was tilted on its side."

People were screaming, crying, jumping out and running away, she said.

The Wild Thing has been in operation for a decade and this is the first incident where riders were injured, or where the roller coaster encountered a malfunction on such a magnitute.  The park said maintenance officials were initially investigating the accident, but that it was too early to determine why the car separated from the others.  The park will be contacting testing companies, the ride manufacturer and independent consultants as it investigates.

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