Ollie
CF Legend
A man has died after he fell out of a roller coaster carriage at a theme park in central Tokyo, police have confirmed.
Fumiaki Kuranouchi fell between 7 and 8 metres to the ground on Sunday afternoon while the roller coaster was in motion at the Tokyo Dome City Attractions in Bunkyo Ward.
The 34-year-old was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead two hours later.
Metropolitan Police Department investigators suspect that the ride, which is said to reach speeds of 39.6kph started moving before the man, who they described as 'large', had been fully secured.
According to the Mainichi Daily News, Kuranouchi was riding the attraction with three other friends and was flown from the carriage when it was making a turn at a curb.
Police are trying to determine whether the accident was caused by professional negligence or if the man failed to follow safety instructions.
An official from the park's operating company said in a press conference yesterday that the workers had found no problems with the roller coaster during equipment checks prior to the incident. However, park workers have been reported as saying that the roller coaster can function whether the safety bars are in place or not.
Senior managing director of Tokyo Dome said: "We are extremely sorry that such an accident occurred, and apologise to the family of the customer who died. We will put efforts into preventing a reoccurrence of such an accident by determining the cause of it."
The 'Spinning Coaster Maihime' roller coaster is described on the theme park's website as a 'thrilling mini-roller coaster darting around on a 300-metre-long winding track.'
The accident is the third to strike the park in the last three months.
In November a worker lost three of her fingers while checking wires and motors at the top of the 'Tower Hacker' attraction and a month later, parts from the 'Thunder Dolphin' roller coaster injured a young girl.
All rides at the theme park have been suspended after the fatal incident.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/38/20110131/tw ... e0455.html
Is this the first coaster death this year?