Several people have been injured after a ‘gravity-defying’ theme park ride ‘fell to the floor’ without stopping. Bounce, a ‘drop tower’ attraction at Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire, Wales, experienced a ‘scheduled emergency stop’ while in midair.

Some 20 thrill-seekers, with a number of children believed to be among them, were on the ride when it plunged to the ground yesterday. Witnesses reported hearing terrified riders ‘screaming and crying’ as the 147ft-tall ride malfunctioned, sending the lift plummeting ‘quickly’ down from ‘about halfway up’. An investigation is now under way into what happened on Bounce, which re-opened at the park two years ago after a £400,000 refurbishment.

The theme park, the biggest in Wales, opened in 1987 on a family farm before being taken over by Spanish entertainment company Aspro Parks. Bounce is described on Oakwood’s website as ‘a gravity-defying, stomach-lurching shot ‘n’ drop tower ride’. ‘Straight up, straight down – with lots of screams in between,’ it added.

The popular attraction re-opened in 2022 after being closed since 2016. It is a drop tower-style ride which takes guests up into the air before dropping them back down again and ‘bouncing back up’. Some 20 people were reportedly on it during yesterday’s emergency – with many of the riders described as ‘school-age’.

A visitor on board the plunge tower when the incident happened said it ‘fell to the floor without slowing down’. They said children were ‘screaming and crying’ as the ride ‘went up and down a few times’ before it ‘fell quickly to the ground from about halfway up the tower’. The guest, who did not want to be named, claimed around eight people received first aid treatment on site while four others visited hospital for further treatment.