Eager thrill-seekers had to be rescued from atop Hersheypark’s oldest rollercoaster Sunday after the ride’s train stopped in its tracks due to an “off-ride guest issue.”
The Comet, a 75-year-old wooden coaster, came to a halt around 5 p.m. after an unspecified issue forced a shutdown in the middle of the amusement park ride.
“Comet experienced a temporary stoppage on the track, which was caused by an unrelated off-ride guest issue. Per our protocols, our teams safely escorted guests off the coaster and back into the station without issue, and the ride was reopened,” a Hersheypark representative told CBS 21.
The ride stopped moving during one of its first ascents, making for a relatively easy hike back down the slope, according to video captured by onlookers.
The Comet doesn’t feature any upside-down turns that would make a malfunction more precarious, just a few tame bunny hills and drops that were considered novel when it was first installed in 1946.
Now, it’s flanked by the park’s more notorious coasters with death-defying drops, including Skyrush, which has a steep yellow tower visible from the parking lot.
It’s been a turbulent summer for the beloved Pennsylvania amusement park.
Just last week, a lost child bizarrely wound up on the monorail line and had to be rescued by a quick-thinking dad who scaled a concession stand to reach the frazzled boy.
The boy’s hero said he acted on “dad instincts” and was just relieved the child wasn’t difficult and “came straight into [his] arms.”
The monorail was, thankfully, closed during the child’s misadventure.
In July, a 9-year-old girl drowned in the sprawling waterpark’s wave pool.
Sophia Subedi’s “limp” body was pulled from the wave pool after she had apparently gone into distress. A lifeguard tried to perform CPR for several minutes, but by then it was too late.
Her family remembered the bubbly third-grader as “a bright, kind, and loving young girl” who “brought joy and light to everyone who knew her,” according to her obituary.
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