Dipper fault 'unrelated' to crash

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A fault that was reported and repaired on a ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach was "wholly unrelated" to a crash later in the day, a company spokesman said.

Two carriages collided on the Big Dipper when one of them became jammed on the rails on Tuesday evening.

Twenty-one people went to hospital with facial, back and neck injuries.

Director David Cam said the Lancashire amusement park's engineers were "absolutely confident" it had been right to reopen the ride.

'Experienced engineers'

Mr Cam said: "There was a report of a problem earlier on and the technical team effected some repairs and immediately reopened the ride, absolutely confident that it was perfectly right to do so.

"Now that was wholly unrelated to the incident that happened in the evening.

"We have a very loyal and experienced, highly skilled team of engineers here who work in different disciplines and structures, mechanical and electrical.

"Their job is to make sure the rides work well and are extremely safe.... they have done that and now we need to know what happened last night.

"It is a very different issue from the daily reports we make, which are comprehensive in the extreme."

The ride has been closed until the investigation is completed

Mr Cam explained that the ride has a number of safety systems in place including a "pull-up chain which acts as a brake" and a signalling system to direct when carriages move.

Park engineers and company representatives are continuing to examine the ride, along with Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Charles Cottle from the HSE said they would be "looking at the structural aspects of the ride, the carriages and the human aspects".

After the crash, the two cars came to rest about 20ft (6m) off the ground.

Firefighters were called to rescue the riders using a specialist rope team, stretchers and spinal boards.

The Big Dipper, which was built in the 1920s, has a track length of 3,295ft (1,013.9m) and a maximum speed of 35mph (56km/h).

The ride has been closed until the investigation is completed.