Tornado ride takes 28 to trauma in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: Twenty-eight people including 14 children were buffeted by a traumatic experience on the tornado tower ride at a fun fair on the Sabarmati riverfront late on Sunday evening. Technical glitches trapped the victims on the ride.
A team of the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) rescued all the 28 using a hydraulic snorkel. The rescue operation lasted for about 45 minutes. Kirti Patel, whose two daughters and wife were stuck on the ride, called the fire brigade. “The fair organizers did not even care to call the fire brigade,” said Patel, a resident of Narol. “They were reiterating that there was some technical glitch and were calling a technician from the GMDC ground.” Patel said he feared that an error from the engineer might end in a horror. “So I called fire personnel who rushed here,” he said.
Dhruvik Patel, another resident of Narol, who was stuck at the top said that he had called his wife and had told her that this might be his last ride. Patel was not able to speak and was constantly thanking god.
Nirav Shah, a resident of Maninagar, had come along with his six family members. “We had sat on such a ride for the first time,” Shah said. “We could not figure out initially if there was a technical problem or if being stalled was part of the ride.”
A team of Sabarmati Riverfront (West) police reached the spot. Inspector M A Singh said, “We will book the manager of this fair, identified as Mitesh Soni, for negligence and will initiate further action.” When asked about the fire NOC, Singh said that some fire extinguishers were seen but it was not clear if they were functional.