The eldest of the three is 16-year-old.
AB Wire
Three girls were injured after they fell 30 to 45 feet from a Ferris wheel at the Greene country fair in Tennessee on Monday evening, reports say.
According to Greeneville police Capt. Tim Davis, the eldest of the three is 16-year-old and they were taken to the Johnson City Medical Center- two by helicopter and one by ambulance. The authorities have yet to release their names and condition.
“We’re … treating it like a crime scene at this point until we can determine whether there was any malfunction, make sure there was no foul play, that it was just an accident,” Davis said.
Eyewitness Gregory Lynthacum said the car the girls were riding in appeared to “get caught” as the wheel lifted upward, WJHL-TV reported.
“It was like watching water pouring from a glass, they bounced off the metal bridging of the ride and eventually hit the ground, Operators finally stopped the ride after people on the ground screamed at then,” Lynthacum said.
Photos shared to social media show at least one of the ride’s baskets nearly upside down.
Lynthacum added that the girls’ injuries appeared to be very serious.
The accident follows the death of a 10-year-old boy on a water slide at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
Social Media Updates:
TBI says it is assisting Greeneville PD in Ferris Wheel accident pic.twitter.com/91q2q8zpyW
— Sydney Cameron (@SydneyRCameron) August 8, 2016
From @Ashlyn_M_White, the ferris wheel at the Greene County Fair where multiple riders fell 40-50 feet this evening. pic.twitter.com/KiPiUq2FSl
— Darren Reese (@TGFDarrenReese) August 8, 2016