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Fatal Roller Coaster Accident at Japan's Expoland


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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,270154,00.html

 

TOKYO — A roller coaster traveling at up to 46 miles per hour hit a guardrail at an amusement park in western Japan on Saturday, killing one person and injuring 21 others, officials and a media report said Saturday.

 

At least two people suffered serious injuries, Kyodo News agency reported.

 

Osaka police official Kaoru Tanaka said a woman was killed, but it was not immediately clear how seriously the 21 others were hurt.

 

The accident occurred at Expoland in Osaka, which is 255 miles west of Tokyo. It happened amid Japan's "Golden Week" holiday, when many families pack amusement parks and other tourist sites.

 

The park was closed following the accident, according to park official Kazuhiro Shiba, adding that officials were investigating. The stand-up roller coaster could hold up to 24 passengers and travel at up to 47 miles per hour, Shiba said.

 

Kyodo said the roller coaster hit a guardrail.

 

Expoland opened as the amusement zone for the 1970 International Exposition held in Osaka.

 

Here's another version of the story:

 

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070505p2a00m0na012000c.html

 

SUITA, Osaka -- A woman died when the seats of the roller coaster she was riding in fell off at the Expoland amusement park here on Saturday afternoon, police said.

 

Three seats fell off the rollercoaster at about 1 p.m. An adult female died after being thrown violently against a fence. At least 40 people -- including two other passengers whose seats came off -- were injured, and 31 of them were rushed to hospital.

 

Local firefighters set up a rescue point at the amusement park and are treating some of the wounded.

 

The roller coaster runs at up to 75 kilometers per hour on a 1,050-meter-long, 40-meter-high course. (Mainichi)

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Video blurb from the Today Show

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Another more detailed diagram of the accident.

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Layout of the ride showing where the assembly broke, where chick hit, and where train came to rest.

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Photo of where the Broken Off Wheel Assembly landed.

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Video from NHK - Japanese TV network

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We just got a brief report of it, thru BBC Newsworld on TV.

 

Here in Amsterdam. (still here until Thurs.)

 

Hmmm.

 

Makes the upcoming TPR Japan Tour kinda....

 

...more interesting, hmmm?

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Looks similar the the Wild Thing accident.

 

The article says an axle broke, that looks like the car came off the wheel boggey instead.

 

Do the TOGOs actually have an axle like a car or are the wheel boggies seperate from each other.,. Checked some photos and they look to be seperate wheel boggies,.

 

Thats my worst fear while riding, the car coming off.

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An adult female died after being thrown violently against a fence.

 

Basically, the cause of the death is that bloody walkway alongside Japanese roller coasters.

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Every media outlet seems to have a different version of this, I'm wondering just what's true. The caption on one site for the picture Robb posted at the top states that the part of the train "from which the seats fell off" is covered by the sheet, but then what's going on with that second car??

 

Also wondering what it means by "seats"... The only stand-up I've ridden is Shockwave at Drayton Manor, and assuming the restraints are always somewhat similar, I can't figure out what could happen to allow somebody to be thrown from those. Not that I trust the media anyway.

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The caption on one site for the picture Robb posted at the top states that the part of the train "from which the seats fell off" is covered by the sheet, but then what's going on with that second car??

 

That sheet is probably covering up where the car impacted the guard rail.

 

The de-railed car is probably just where the train finally stopped.

 

I'd imagine the impact was probably pretty gruesome.

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The caption on one site for the picture Robb posted at the top states that the part of the train "from which the seats fell off" is covered by the sheet, but then what's going on with that second car??

 

That sheet is probably covering up where the car impacted the guard rail.

 

The de-railed car is probably just where the train finally stopped.

 

I'd imagine the impact was probably pretty gruesome.

 

Ah, that makes more sense, understood. Very tragic, I feel for the deceased's family.

 

Just showed this to my mum. "But, but, Robb and Elissa won't still take you all there will they? Not after this?"

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Wow, that's pretty sad....and of all coasters, it would be a Togo haha. Death machines. hmm hit a guard rail, that's kinda odd because you would think that is something they would have checked. Is Golden Week their opening weekend? Wow, great start to the 2007 season!

 

They should have all ben riding Rap...I mean Orochi , it's the white one too!

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Looks like it pretty much derailed

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The whole "seats fell off" line had me puzzled for a second - made it sound like the actual seats came unscrewed from the base, now I see that it was a derailing.

 

Anyway, wow, what a horrible story. Really makes us all realize just how helpless we are when riding; we're completely strapped in, unable to move, and if something goes wrong, all we can do is anticipate the impact.

 

Scary.

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There have long been stories about the King Cobra at Kings Island de-railing shortly after it opened 1984, but with no fatalities.

 

I've searched long and hard, but can't find any sources reporting about this supposed accident. Of course, this was so long ago that any sort of news story would be hard to find.

 

I wonder if this points to some sort of design flaw in the Togo coasters, which doesn't exactly make sense as they've been running for decades without serious issues. If there is a design flaw, I think we'll see the rapid death of the Togo death machines in the very near future.

 

Anyway, this is very sad. This is about the last thing you expect to happen when you to to a park for a day of fun. Although it's obviously worse for the woman who died, imagine the horror of the other passengers on that train- being banged up and trapped on a train next to some serious real life gore.

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^I think by guardrail, they mean the railing on the brake run. That's my interpretation at least.

 

This is all pretty crazy. Really sad. The couple in the first row of the third car really tell the story of what the scene was probably like.

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There have long been stories about the King Cobra at Kings Island de-railing shortly after it opened 1984, but with no fatalities.

 

I've searched long and hard, but can't find any sources reporting about this supposed accident. Of course, this was so long ago that any sort of news story would be hard to find.

 

 

Yep - one of the cars in King Cobra derailed in the helix in August 1984. I've got a clipping from the Chicago Tribune article on it from the following day. The car didn't separate from the train, and the train just slowed to a stop close to the ground. Eight were injured, but there were no fatalities. It was somewhat noteworthy because that accident happened at the same time Rail Blazer was just reopening after its fatal accident in July. The Tribune ran an article about each that day.

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You can see in some of our pictures of the ride:

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/photos/expoland/fujinraijin2.htm

 

That the guardrail isn't on the entire circuit. So if the car derailed at a fast point during the ride, then all of a sudden here comes that guardrail, yeah, the chick died pretty fast.

 

Scary that this happened...especially in Japan.

 

On the really freaky coincidence front...a group of us were doing some Japan Trip planning last night and spend a considerable amount of time working on some Expoland options, train schedules, and ERT stuff! Really creepy.

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Yep - one of the cars in King Cobra derailed in the helix in August 1984. I've got a clipping from the Chicago Tribune article on it from the following day. The car didn't separate from the train, and the train just slowed to a stop close to the ground. Eight were injured, but there were no fatalities. It was somewhat noteworthy because that accident happened at the same time Rail Blazer was just reopening after its fatal accident in July. The Tribune ran an article about each that day.

 

If you get a moment, would you mind scanning it and posting it here? There are so many apocryphal coaster accident stories, but this one I've always supposed to be true.

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