Battersea Park funfair disaster
| Battersea Park Big Dipper | |
|---|---|
| Battersea Park | |
| Location | Battersea Park |
| Coordinates | 51°28′45.98″N 0°9′24.91″W / 51.4794389°N 0.1569194°W |
| Status | Closed |
| Opening date | 1951 |
| Closing date | May 30, 1972 |
| General statistics | |
| Model | Big Dipper |
| Lift/launch system | Rope lift |
| Height | 15 m (49 ft) |
| Length | 1,200 m (3,900 ft) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Trains | 3 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 4 rows for a total of 24 riders per train. |
The Big Dipper was a wooden roller coaster located at Battersea Park in London, opened in 1951 and was one of the Battersea Park Funfair's biggest attractions. The ride was the main attraction of the funfair, opened as part of the Festival of Britain.[1]
1972 accident
Two years after a fire hit the ride, a major fatal accident occurred on 30 May 1972. A train being hoisted up to the start of the ride broke loose from its haulage rope, and rolled backwards into the station into another waiting train. Five children were killed, and thirteen others injured in the accident.
After the accident The Big Dipper was closed, and dismantled. With the lack of a main attraction at the funfair its popularity quickly declined. The rest of the fair was closed two years later in 1974.[1] Very little remains now to even suggest that a funfair once stood on the site.
The Independent newspaper published a story 6 June 2015 recalling the accident, prompted by an accident at Alton Towers in which sixteen people were injured, four seriously. Regarding 1972 accident, Carolyn Adamczyk, a passenger on the ride during the accident, said: "As soon as we started shooting backwards everything went into slow motion... I turned around and saw the brake man desperately trying to put the brake on but it wasn’t working. Most of the carriages didn’t go around the bend, one detached and went off the side through a wooden hoarding. People were groaning and hanging over the edge. It was awful." The Battersea Fun Fair incident is still widely known as one of the most horrible roller coaster accidents. [2]
References
- ^ a b "1972: West London fairground ride crash kills five". London Today. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
- ^ Jamie Merrill (2015-06-06). "Battersea Park big dipper disaster in 1972: The funfair tragedy the nation forgot | Home News | News". The Independent. Retrieved 2015-10-13.