maff
VIP Member
Four teenagers have been seriously hurt in a crash between two carriages on a rollercoaster ride at Alton Towers.
Sixteen people were in one carriage of the Smiler ride; the other was empty.
West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) said the four, two girls and two boys, were trapped on the ride, about 25 feet (7.6m) above the ground.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing "screaming and shouting" and "a loud crash" when the crash happened at 14:09 BST.
The Staffordshire resort said its first aid staff were on the scene and emergency crews had built a platform to help reach riders.
Eyewitness Ben Richardson said: "When the second carriage crashed people were screaming and shouting - even after it stopped. Everyone around the park ran over.
"The people looked significantly distressed. It was almost like a car crash, very full-on."
Sophie Underwood, who was in the park at the time, said: "It wasn't very high but it was obviously high enough for them to cause some quite serious injuries to the people that were on the rollercoaster.
"They literally had come back off and round the back of a loop, and straight into another empty coach that had been stuck.
"There was a big crash, and I think there were quite a few people that were angry because they said that they had told the staff that the coach before had stopped but they hadn't actually called through."
Sixteen people were in one carriage of the Smiler ride; the other was empty.
West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) said the four, two girls and two boys, were trapped on the ride, about 25 feet (7.6m) above the ground.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing "screaming and shouting" and "a loud crash" when the crash happened at 14:09 BST.
The Staffordshire resort said its first aid staff were on the scene and emergency crews had built a platform to help reach riders.
Eyewitness Ben Richardson said: "When the second carriage crashed people were screaming and shouting - even after it stopped. Everyone around the park ran over.
"The people looked significantly distressed. It was almost like a car crash, very full-on."
Sophie Underwood, who was in the park at the time, said: "It wasn't very high but it was obviously high enough for them to cause some quite serious injuries to the people that were on the rollercoaster.
"They literally had come back off and round the back of a loop, and straight into another empty coach that had been stuck.
"There was a big crash, and I think there were quite a few people that were angry because they said that they had told the staff that the coach before had stopped but they hadn't actually called through."
