Girls feet sliced off at Kentucky Kingdom / Similar ride closed at Kings Island

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (June 23) - Six Flags and Cedar Fair shut down eight more thrill rides around North America on Friday after a teenage girl's feet were sliced off during a ride in Kentucky.

State inspectors were at the Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom to examine the Superman Tower of Power, where the accident happened Thursday. The ride lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops them nearly the same distance at speeds reaching 54 mph.

A cable broke loose on the ride, striking the 13-year-old girl in the legs, said Bill Clary, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, which inspects amusement park rides. Clary said inspectors don't know what caused the cable to break.

"We're going to go where the evidence takes us," he said.

It was unclear at what point in the ride the 13-year-old was injured, said Wendy Goldberg, a Six Flags spokeswoman. The girl was taken to a hospital, where her condition was not immediately available Friday.

Six Flags shut down similar rides at parks in St. Louis; Gurnee, Ill.; and near Washington as a safety precaution, Goldberg said. She said Six Flags Over Texas, near Dallas, also has a Superman Tower of Power, but it is not the same ride.

There had been no reports of injuries on the ride before Thursday, she said.

"Millions of people have safely ridden this ride in our parks," Goldberg said.

The ride passed inspection in each of the last four years according to inspection records, The Louisville Courier-Journal reported on its Web site.

Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. also shut down drop tower rides at five of its amusement parks for inspection, company spokeswoman Stacy Frole said. Frole described it as a precautionary measure.

Intamin AG, a Swiss company, made all the rides but did not supply all the parts, said Sandor Kernacs, president of the company's American operations, Intamin Ltd. in Glen Burnie, Md.

The accident didn't appear to slow business Friday at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. A stream of cars and foot traffic poured into the amusement park on a warm, breezy summer day.

The five Cedar Fair rides that were shut down are at Kings Island near Cincinnati; Canada's Wonderland, in Toronto; Kings Dominion in Doswell, Va.; Carowinds, in Charlotte, N.C.; and Great America in Santa Clara, Calif.

I can't imagine anything worse... jeez, that poor little girl. :(

Horrible.
I've ridden the similar ride at King's Island, "Drop Zone," several times without incident.

Unreal...so sad

Terrible news. Sad part of this story also will be the media scare that follows - forgetting the news that this injury is one person among tens of millions who ride Six Flags rides safely every year.

The only positive I can see from this is I anticipate some sort of payday for the poor girl. I know money can't heal, but hopefully the money could be spent on making her life more comfortable, or attempting to return it to the pre-accident stage.