2 killed as joyride breaks down in Ahmedabad

In a freak accident at popular adventure park at Kankaria lake here on Sunday, two persons were killed while 28 suffered injuries after a joyride collapsed from a height of nearly 50 to 60 feet, fire officials said. Several video footage showed the joy-ride breaking down mid-air and falling on the ground.

According to fire officials, most of the riders got stuck in the seats after the fall and their seat locks got jammed. They said that several people suffered deep injuries in their legs. "The impact of the fall was so huge that the seats, the riders were sitting, got broken into pieces. Many of the injured are in critical condition," a fire officer said who visited the spot.

Vijay Nehra, Commissioner, AMC, told reporters that the swing collapsed due to some "malfunction" with is being probed by a team of forensic experts. He said that there were around 30 people on swing which broke down in the air.

According to fire officials, the swing, they were riding popularly known as "discovery," had a capacity of 32 people, collapsed mid-air due to some glitch which is yet to be identified. The opposition Congress has criticised the government for negligence and said the accident happened since the swing was not properly maintained.

The sprawling park, run by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), was crowded with visitors on Sunday afternoon. Kankaria lake and adventure park is among the popular spots where people come in huge numbers on weekend. The AMC has outsourced the management of the adventure park to a private firm on contract basis.

The minister of state for home Pradipsinh Jadeja late in the night met the victims at LG hospital where they are being treated. He said that investigation is on to find out the reasons behid the incident that killed two persons and injured 28.