Theme park rides collapses in Sweden

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A theme park ride collapsed Tuesday in western Sweden, injuring 30 people, officials said.

Several people were thrown out of the swinging Rainbow ride at the Linsberg theme park in Goteborg and squeezed as the seating platform tipped to one side, city police spokeswoman Malin Sahlstrom said.

The injuries ranged from bone fractures to shock, SOS Alarm rescue service spokeswoman Monica Grandin said. None of the injuries were life-threatening.

The Rainbow, a spinning arm with a seating compartment on one end, appeared to have fallen about 10 feet to the ground. Sahlstrom said 36 people were onboard the ride at the time.

The injured were mostly Swedish and Norwegian, though the nationalities of all had not been confirmed, she said.

The cause of the accident was under investigation. The Liseberg manager on duty, Peter Andersson, said a malfunctioning ball bearing may have caused the collapse.

Liseberg is a popular tourist destination in Sweden and the biggest fun fair park in the Nordic region, with more than 30 different rides.

Andersson said the attraction had a security inspection in the spring and no faults were found

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Always churns my stomach when I see bad news regarding a fun fair ride. This may sound a little obscure but it is not only the people on the rides that are affected, but considering theme parks are associated with happiness and family outings, these times should be the best of your lives, especially for the kids, and for anyone, especially the young to witness a disaster could mentally scar them for a long long time.

Hopefully on this occasion all is well and everyone recovers to enjoy life as normal.