Employee hit by roller coaster at amusement park still recovering in hospital
By Scott Cook
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JEFFERSON, New Hampshire (WMUR) — State officials are releasing more details after a worker was seriously injured by a ride in an incident at Santa’s Village in Jefferson this weekend.
The state fire marshal confirmed that the operator of that ride remains in the hospital Sunday night after being hit by a coaster car and falling off the ride platform.
The incident happened on the Poogee Penguins Spin Out Coaster.
News 9 was told the 51-year-old worker was the sole operator of the ride and was well trained.
He was on the ride platform when he was hit by one of the coaster trains and fell roughly six to eight feet to the ground.
Fire marshal Sean Toomey said people were on the ride at the time, but no one else was injured.
Officials are now working to find witnesses who were on the coaster at the time to better understand what happened.
“The ride remains safe,” Toomey said. “There was something that happened that made that operator step out on that platform in a unique way that wouldn’t normally be the case. We’ll do some follow-ups to figure out why, but the track record of Santa’s Village, the other facilities in the state, and the partnership with our inspectors do provide for a nice, safe environment for people visiting the parks.”
The state tramway inspector did inspect the coaster Saturday and approved it for operation.
The ride remained closed again Sunday, but that decision was made by Santa’s Village.
Meanwhile, News 9 was told the rest of the park was open Sunday for guests.
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