A 13-year-old teenager suffered only minor injuries after he let go of a moving ride at Disneyland, resulting in him falling 50 feet down a waterfall. The episode was confirmed by park employees and recorded on video by a cell phone.
The event took place last Sunday, at the Tiana’s Bayou Adventure attraction, located at the Disneyland Resort, in Anaheim, California. The area is approximately 40 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Images captured by a cell phone, initially released by TMZ and later confirmed by NBC News, show the boy spinning as he went down the waterfall, right behind one of the attraction’s carts that transported visitors.
Paul, a park regular who preferred not to reveal his full surname, was nearby the ride when he heard a scream from a pedestrian. He immediately looked for his grandson, who was nearby, to ensure his safety.
According to Paul, his grandson reported seeing the boy fall from the waterfall “like a rag doll”, and he himself took a photo of the place after the incident, showing people watching the base of the attraction.
The Disneyland team acted promptly, stopping the ride. The teenager was taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure and has already been discharged, according to information released by those responsible for the park.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), the agency responsible for regulating, inspecting and licensing amusement park rides, investigated the incident. Katherine Wzorek, a spokeswoman for the division, confirmed in an email Tuesday that the investigation “did not identify any operational issues” at the attraction.
Given the results of the analysis, Disneyland reported that the attraction was reactivated and returned to normal operation on Tuesday.