Eight teenagers were stuck on the top of a New Mexico roller coaster for about two hours following a ride malfunction over the weekend, fire officials said.
The riders were eventually brought to safety and none of them reported being injured, according to firefighters who led the rescue operation about 30 feet off the ground. The nerve-wracking incident happened Saturday night at Western Playland Amusement Park in the city of Sunland Park, near the border with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
The teens were riding the popular El Bandido roller coaster when their cars abruptly got stuck on the tracks around 8:30 p.m., authorities said. Sunland Park and West Valley firefighters placed a fire truck ladder against the tracks and helped bring each rider to the ground, according to officials.
“No injuries and luckily the rain and thunderstorms stayed away until after all were on the ground safely,” the West Valley Fire Department said in a Facebook post.
One of the teens who were trapped on the ride said the group felt hungry and wanted to use the restroom while waiting to be rescued.
“Waiting that long was pretty wild for us, but we were all grateful that we got down safely,” rider Angel Cuevas told local news station KFOX-TV.
The cause of the malfunction is under investigation.
