Hong Kong firefighters form human ladder to save 17 from stalled Ocean Park ride

Hong Kong firefighters formed a human ladder to rescue 17 people from a ride malfunction at Ocean Park, according to a visitor who was among those suspended in mid-air for over two hours, while an engineer urged authorities to strengthen oversight of the venue’s safety inspections.

But some visitors to the theme park on Monday remained undeterred from enjoying other rides after the breakdown of “Wild Twister” on the weekend. The incident was the latest in at least three this year involving attractions malfunctioning from signal failures.

On social media platform Threads, one user who said she was on the ride described feeling “so helpless” while stuck in mid-air for more than two hours on Sunday.

In the post, which has been viewed over 238,000 times since Sunday, the user said she had taken many rides before, but this was the first time she had ever experienced a malfunction.

“Luckily, it wasn’t too hot, otherwise it would have been exhausting and I might have got heatstroke,” she said.

During the rescue operation, she said firefighters handed water to everyone trapped on the ride while reminding them to stay calm. Eventually, six firefighters formed a human ladder to carry her to the ground, she said.