Two men arrested after fairground ride crash in Birmingham city centre
Two men have been arrested after a fairground ride “failed and crashed” in Birmingham city centre.
Two women were taken to hospital after the City Star Flyer ride in Centenary Square plummeted on Thursday night, while around a dozen other patients were assessed and discharged at the scene.
The men, aged 55 and 21, were arrested at the scene on the same evening on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and obstructing officers.
West Midlands Police said they remain in custody.
A police cordon remained in place around the ride, which is 55m high, on Friday morning.
West Midlands Fire Service said the ride “dropped to ground level whilst in operation”.
Pic: PA
West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “On arrival, crews found 13 patients.
“Two women were treated by ambulance staff for injuries not believed to be serious and conveyed to Midland Metropolitan University Hospital.
“Nine women and three men were assessed by medics before being given self-care advice and discharged at the scene.”
The scene after the incident. Pic: Haroon Jamil
People help others off the ride. Pic: Haroon Jamil
‘We were having fun and then it just crashed’
A woman who was injured described the moment the ride dropped to the ground.
Louise Brown, who works for the BBC in Birmingham, said she suffered injuries to her face, legs and arms.
“This can never happen again – we are in shock and all I can think of is what if my kids were on the ride,” she told BBC News.
“We were on it having fun and then it just crashed to the ground.
“It went backwards first though, which I’ve never seen it do before.”
She added that the ride was “still quite high” before it dropped and she “felt pain”.
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Emergency services after the ride fault. Pic: Mr Explorer
A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said they “appreciate the concern around this incident” and are working with relevant authorities.
“We also have specialists attending the site today,” he added.
“There will be an investigation to establish what happened.”
Danter Attractions, which manages the ride, declined to comment on the incident.
A man’s body has been recovered from an area of flooding in North Yorkshire, police have said, as major incidents have been declared in two counties.
The body was found near Intake Lane in Beal, close to Eggborough and Knottingley.
Police believe the man may have entered the water in the last 24 to 48 hours.
Follow the latest on the weather
North Yorkshire Police said: “Despite extensive enquiries, including with our colleagues in Humberside and West Yorkshire Police, we have been unable to identify him.
“He was found without any identification or personal belongings.”
The man was also described as white, in his early 50s to 60s, with light brown short hair and stubble.
He was wearing brown walking boots, blue denim jeans, a multicoloured knitted jumper and possibly a dark green waterproof coat, police added.
It comes after Leicestershire and Lincolnshire both declared a major incident in response to the extreme weather hitting the UK and Ireland.
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Leicestershire Fire and Rescue was the first emergency service in England to declare an incident and said it had received more than 200 calls since Monday morning over widespread flooding.
Crews had found cars stuck in floodwater and evacuated residents from flooded homes and rising waters, with some 17 people rescued as of 1.45pm.
The Lincolnshire Resilience Forum declared a major incident shortly after, and noted that emergency services had rescued children who were stranded at a school in Edenham.
Meanwhile, the Met Office has three yellow weather warnings – each for snow and ice – in effect throughout Monday evening and Tuesday morning.
Pic: Met Office
A warning covering the west and north coast of Scotland – reaching into Inverness and Aberdeen – will last until midday, while an alert in effect for all of Northern Ireland will last until 11am.
The Met Office has also issued a warning covering Wales and parts of northwest England on Monday evening, moving into southwest England, the Midlands and parts of southern England in the early hours of Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a yellow weather warning for snow is in effect across the south of England – stretching from just above Truro in Cornwall to Canterbury in Kent – from 9am to midnight.
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