Rollercoaster riders were stuck upside down for several hours when it stopped suddenly at a county fair.

The scare happened on the Fireball ride at the Forest County Festival in Wisconsin on Sunday. The eight riders – seven of them children – were left hanging for at least three hours.

Photographs and a video shared by Scott Brass showed the first car of the ride right at the center

‘All we know is that there is a mechanical failure with the ride where it became stuck in the upright position,’ Crandon Fire Department Captain Brennan Cook told WJFW.  

The City of Antigo Fire Department, which has a truck with a platform, was called to assist.

‘We had about a 35 to 40 minutes travel time, so during that time obviously the anticipation is building,’ Firefighter Erica Kostichka told CBS 58.

Kostichka said she personally walked the riders down after they were removed from the platform of the truck by 5pm.

‘You know a lot of (the kids) you could tell, their legs were shaking, they were sweating, and it was just a matter of letting them know hey this is no race to get down to the finish line, the hard part is over,’ she said .

‘They were very brave.’

No information on injuries to the riders was released. All were taken to hospitals to be examined.

‘Families are being reunited with people as they come down off of the ride from the rescuers and everybody seems to be doing the best as they can given the circumstances,’ said Cook.  

The Fireball was recently inspected by state officials on site, he said.

All amusement rides must be inspected before operating every day, according to the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services.

The incident happened just days after a big crack was seen on a rollercoaster support pillar hundreds of feet high at the Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina. The crack moved as riders whizzed by.

‘I was trying to shoot the video, and my hands were shaking,’ said Jeremy Wagner, who was visiting with his son, daughter, niece and his son’s friend. ‘Because I knew how quick this could be catastrophic.’

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