A 15-year-old girl died and two other people were hospitalized with severe injuries after an amusement park ride in Barcelona, Spain, broke in midair, a city spokeswoman said. A young boy who was on the ride suffered minor injuries, but walked away from the twisted metal on his own, Barcelona spokeswoman Rosa Diaz said.

The names of the victims have not been announced.

The mechanical arm of "El Pendulo" (The Pendulum) broke and the basket carrying the teens fell on top of the ride known as "The Golden Mine," said Sara Jaurriete, director of the Tibidabo amusement park.

The park's website describes El Pendulo as "the ultimate free fall and the first of its kind in Spain."...

http://www.cnn.com/2...ent.park.death/

See also:

http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/18326/15-year-old-dies-in-theme-park-tragedy

Dang, that's sad.

From perusing the site, this Pendulum ride looks not unlike Cedar Point's Skyscraper.... The Gold Mine that the cage fell on is a log flume.

Oh that's just sad. My heart goes out to the family of the girl.

From perusing the site, this Pendulum ride looks not unlike Cedar Point's Skyscraper.... The Gold Mine that the cage fell on is a log flume.

Skyscraper is from Gravity Works of Canada. I'm pretty sure the Spain ride was from Fabbri of Italy.

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

I see why it was called the Pendulum.

The initial reports point to a metal fatigue/ Vortex shredding issue- much like the issue that caused Vertigo to collapse at CP back in 2002.

The disturbing part is, sure maintenance checked the ride out and ran it empty when a "noise" was reported. Why not add water dummies to simulate the guests' weight and then operate it?

The ride obviously needs to support guests' weight; maintenance failed to simulate actual operation.

I know hindsight is 20/20. But after years of seeing water dummies used on various rides (MF, SoB etc.) it seems like an easy test to be performed when safety is at question.