Two children were severely injured after they fell off a Ferris wheel at a fair in Michigan on Thursday, MLive.com reported.
A boy and a girl were on the Ferris wheel at the Chelsea Community Fair on Thursday night when they fell out of the ride's cab, witnesses said. One child, an 8-year-old boy, landed on the ground and was seen bleeding. The girl, a 16-year-old identified as his sister, landed on the ride's platform and wasn't moving.
"I was in shock. I saw it happening," said Alex Keszler, a Chelsea resident who was the fair. "It was very, very traumatic."
Doctors at the fair were able to help the kids as paramedics rushed to the scene. They were taken to C.S. Mott Children's hospital in critical but stable condition, Joyce Williams, of Huron Valley Ambulance, told MLive.
The 8-year-old boy was released from the hospital on Friday, Chelsea Community Fair Board officials said. The girl is still recovering at the hospital and is under observation.
Police have not released many details about what happened, but according to witnesses, one of the ride's cabs got caught on another cab. The cab the victims were in tilted over and they fell from a height of about 15 feet.
"Someone said, 'Oh my God, they're falling,' " Katie Wyss, another Chelsea resident at the fair, told MLive.
Rick Boham, president of the Chelsea Community Fair Board, told MLive Friday the Ferris wheel was up and running after a thorough inspection. The company that operates the fair rides, North American Midway, also said in a statement that the Ferris wheel was safe.
"The incident was not a mechanical malfunction and no structural damage has been found by the Michigan state ride inspector who has deemed it safe to ride and operate," the company told MLive.
Chelsea police are still investigating exactly how the siblings fell off the ride.
