Roller coaster breakdown in Europa-Park: more than 30 minutes standstill in "Poseidon"

Created: 08/29/2022, 16:30

By: Sina Alonso Garcia

The Poseidon water roller coaster at Europa-Park suddenly came to a standstill at the weekend.

A technical fault was apparently to blame.

© Imago/Petra Schneider-Schmelzer

The visitors had probably imagined things differently: on the “Poseidon” water roller coaster in Europa-Park, the carriages suddenly stopped during the ride and didn't move for around half an hour.

Rust - The reports of accidents in amusement parks do not seem to stop at the moment.

At the beginning of August, the fatal fall of a 57-year-old from a roller coaster in Rhineland-Palatinate shocked the country.

Only a few days later came the sad news from Legoland in Günzburg, Swabia: 31 people were injured in a roller coaster accident here too.

And the streak of bad luck continues: a few days ago, two people had to be hospitalized after an accident in an amusement park in Baden-Württemberg.

Now there has apparently also been an incident on a roller coaster at Europa-Park in Rust, as reported by BW24.

As a reader reporter from

documented, the carriages of the "Poseidon" water rollercoaster stopped during the ride last weekend.

The disruption lasted more than 30 minutes.

Photos show how Europa-Park employees calm down the occupants of the wagons and how some guests save themselves on a fire escape.

According to information from

, no one was injured.

Europa-Park and Co.: How safe are roller coasters in amusement parks?

In view of the recent accumulation of incidents in amusement parks, some park fans are asking themselves: how safe are roller coasters?

Jürgen Gevers, Managing Director of the Association of German Leisure Parks and Leisure Companies (VDFU) gives the all-clear.

"Corresponding incidents since the turn of the millennium in stationary leisure facilities can be counted on one hand," he emphasizes to the

.

Statistically, roller coasters are "one of the safest means of transportation".

Europa-Park: The top 10 attractions for action fans

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It is true that neither the TÜV nor the General Association of the German Insurance Industry keep accident or defect statistics for roller coasters in Germany.

However, as a spokeswoman for the international amusement park umbrella organization IAAPA announced, there were an average of 4.4 injuries in rides per million visitors to parks in Europe in 2020.

Of these, only 16 percent took place on roller coasters.

"In Germany, this number is even lower," says VDFU Managing Director Gevers.

"The safety standards here are much higher than in other countries."