Teenager dead, one other injured in carnival ride accident at St. Thomas Aquinas Church
EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — A teenage girl died at Del Sol Medical Center after being thrown from The Sizzler ride at the St. Thomas Aquinas Church carnival in east El Paso, police said.
Two other teenagers were in the ride when the incident happened. One was taken to University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries and the third teenager was not injured, police said.
Spokeswoman for the El Paso Catholic Diocese Elizabeth O'Hara said the teenager who died was ejected and hit a metal barricade.
The church was having its Dia De Los Niños Fiesta on Friday night.
The El Paso Police Department tweeted about the incident just after 8:30 p.m.
The father of the girl who was not injured tells reporter Meghan Lopez that the girls go to Hanks High School. He said the teenagers were the only ones on the ride and his daughter did not get ejected from the ride because she hooked her arms on the handle bar and held on.
The Sizzler is a ride that spins people around a center point but also spins them in their seats.
The company in charge of the carnival rides is Playtime Amusements Inc. Police say the carnivals are regulated by state statutes.
"There's inspections that are required, whether or not this vendor has been up to par with that hasn't been determined. That'll be revealed in the investigation," said El Paso Police spokesman Sgt. Enrique Carrillo.
Crimes against persons is investigating the accident, police said.
In August 2014, two El Paso teenagers were also injured when they fell off a mechanical ride at the St. Anthony Bazaar. The company used in the St. Anthony Bazaar incident was not the same one used in Friday night's carnival at St. Thomas Aquinas, according to O'Hara.
In a 2005 article by the Associated Press, the manufacturer of the ride says there are about 200 Sizzlers operating in the United States.
