THRILL-SEEKERS got more than they bargained for when lightning struck at a North Yorkshire theme park.
Twenty passengers had just set off on the Kumali roller-coaster at Flamingo Land, near Malton, when the park was hit by a power cut during a thunderstorm shortly after 11.30am yesterday.
The drenched passengers were trapped on the ride for about 45 minutes while a diesel generator was used to move the roller-coaster very slowly round the circuit and back to the platform.
One young girl had to be carried off the ride by a Flamingo Land worker.
Wendy Homewood, a spokeswoman for Flamingo Land, which attracted nearly 1.5 million visitors last year, said: “Everybody on the ride was fine. We gave them somewhere to get warm and dry and they were all given a free meal. What happened is that there was a lightning strike and the power outed. We have procedures in place for when this happens. We used a diesel generator to lift the ride up to the top of the incline and then once it got to the top, its own momentum took it back down.”
