According to Authorities and a viral video trending, a teenage boy died after falling from an amusement park ride Thursday night. The ride recently opened at the ICON Park entertainment complex in Orlando.
Tyre Sampson was only 14; the Missouri native fell from a FreeFall ride. The ride is known as the world’s “tallest freestanding drop tower,” described by the range County Sheriff’s Office.
The video that’s trending on social media shows the happening. The video shows a person falling from their seat a few seconds into the ride’s decline. The vehicle finally starts its climb. Nearly two-and-a-half minutes later, the drop begins. Five seconds into the descent, a person falls from one of the seats. People holler, and the camera then shows a body on the brick floor at the tower’s base.
Someone cries, “Call the ambulance! He just fell,”. Then, as the ride lowers to ground level, riders beg for staffers to release them off the ride.
Upon the tragic event, Deputies were called to ICON Park near 11 p.m. Sampson was taken to a hospital, where he soon died from the impact.
“Yes [he was secured in the seat]. That’s what we know at this time. So again, we operate the ride with all the safety precautions in mind, and everything is in place. This is why we’re doing an investigation,” sales and marketing director for the Slingshot Group, John Stine, explains.
As the website describes, The FreeFall is a 430-foot-tall tower and ride, with a vehicle wrapping the building that holds 30 passengers to the structure’s top. When the car comes to the top, it will lean forward 30 degrees and face the ground before declining about 400 feet at speeds over 75 mph.
Reports say The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will analyze the ride’s issues and its safety. The agency is responsible for inspecting all amusement rides in Florida, excluding those at large parks that have full-time inspectors on staff.
