Shenzhen theme park closed after 8 people injured in roller coaster collision

Shenzhen Happy Valley said in a statement on its Weibo account that the theme park was closed for the weekend while a “complete safety check” is carried out.

It said the incident happened at 6.27pm on Friday on the Snowy Eagle roller coaster, and that the eight people who sustained injuries were in a stable condition.

The statement said anyone who had bought tickets for the weekend could get a full refund.

Most of those injured in the crash were taken to the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, according to local media reports.

A hospital employee said four people were being treated in intensive care, but would not give further details. She said those with minor injuries had been discharged.

A Beijing News report said three men and a woman were being treated in the hospital’s intensive care unit, one of them with serious head injuries.

An official with Shenzhen’s Information Office said the cause of the accident was still under investigation.

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A video circulating online shows a roller coaster train suddenly sliding backwards from the top of a steep slope and colliding with another train that was stationary at the end of the ride with some passengers still on board.

Shenzhen Happy Valley opened in 1998 and is operated by state-owned conglomerate the Overseas Chinese Town Group.

The Snowy Eagle roller coaster is the theme park’s main attraction. It is billed as Asia’s tallest and longest catapult roller coaster and cost more than 200 million yuan (US$27.3 million). The ride, which has been in operation for 11 years, can reach a speed of 135km/h in 2 seconds, according to the theme park’s website.

Shenzhen Happy Valley was fined 200,000 yuan for negligence in 2018 after two people were injured in a crash on its Happy Trunk monorail. An investigation found that the monorail was a week away from being retired.

The theme park’s general manager, Yue Feng, told staff to strengthen checks on equipment at the company’s third-quarter meeting on safety work on Monday, according to the company’s website.