A theme park worker fell to his death from a lift while working on a Ferris wheel at Gillian’s Wonderland Pier in Ocean City, New Jersey.
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Robert Sanger,62, was working on the Ferris wheel when he fell off around 10:30 a.m. Monday. Authorities said he was transported to Shore Medical Center where he was pronounced deceased. However, investigators claim it is currently unknown how he fell off the ride, and Sanger worked as an employee of Cargo Tech International in Swedesboro as reported by Press of Atlantic City.
Ocean City Mayor and Gillian’s Wonderland Pier president Jay Gillian released a statement about the incident on the theme park’s official Facebook page:“We are saddened to report that an employee of a subcontractor working on a lift at Gillian’s Wonderland Pier suffered a fatal injury Monday morning. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”
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Gillian also said he will be cooperating with investigators as more details will be revealed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Additionally, he has suspended all activities surrounding his campaign due to the accident.
The incident comes weeks after a 14-year-old Missouri boy fell out of an amusement park ride in Florida. The tragic death of Tyre Sampson took place on March 24 when he fell off the Free Fall ride at ICON Park in Orlando. According to park officials, it is the tallest free-standing ride drop tower in the world. Sampson’s parents want the ride to be taken down as it poses a risk for others.
“They can take the ride down completely. Get rid of it altogether. It’s too big of a risk. To get a call over the phone and to not be there, as a mother, to comfort, to tell him, ‘it’s going to be OK’, it’s very disturbing and heart-wrenching,” Nekia Dodd said during a press conference last week.
Yarnell Sampson said he learned about his son’s death after watching the disturbing video clip on social media and said he didn’t know that was his son. “It makes me numb and helpless because I wasn’t there to protect my son. But I’m here now to speak up for my son,” he said.
According to FOX 13 News, the ride did not have seatbelts included with the over-the-shoulder restraints, which posed a high risk for thrill-seekers. The ride doesn’t have a height requirement but has a weight requirement. Other factors led to his death but it was not revealed to the public.
An investigation stated that the ride did not experience any electrical or mechanical failures. However, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried said the ride’s operators manually altered the harness proximity sensors.
“These misadjustments allowed the safety lights to illuminate – improperly satisfying the ride’s electronic safety mechanisms — that allowed the ride to operate even though Mr. Sampson was not properly secured in the seat,”