Sixty-four riders were stuck on the Sheikra roller coaster for two hours Thursday afternoon after it shut down at Busch Gardens in Tampa.
Park spokeswoman Karen Varga says two of Sheikra's trains stopped around 3:45 p.m. One of the cars was on the flat section of the 200-foot drop and the other stopped halfway up the main hill.
About an hour passed before employees started evacuating but some riders were stuck for more than two hours.
Sky10 was there as they climbed down the steps into the elevator lifts that brought them safely to the ground. All of the riders were removed from the ride by 6 p.m.
Rufus Denney from Miami said he was on the ride right before this happened.
“People didn't think much of anything but after 15, 30 minutes, an hour, an hour and a half, people were screaming at times. I know there are some people that had some panic attacks,” Denney said.
Varga said they don’t know what caused it yet but said this is not uncommon. The 11-year-old ride is run by a computer which is very sensitive and will stop if it detects anything out of the ordinary. She said this incident means their safety systems are working.
Varga said they will reopen as soon as it’s fixed.
Several schools were at the park for their annual trip. There are no reported injuries.
