17 year old student dies in local Roller Coaster derailment in Vietnam.

First of all, our condolences go out to the family of the people involved. However we look at this incident to prevent it happening in the future in other parks.

// Based on witness statements and news articles:

On Thursday 14 Jan 2021 a high school from Hanoi went on a school trip and visited Dao Ngoc Xanh (Green Pearl Island) Amusement Park, operated by Ao Vua Joint Stock Company, in Thanh Thuy District (70 kilometer from Hanoi).

Just before 12:30 noon, 13 students boarded the roller coaster, amongst which were three friends (LTA, NLP, and NPH), who wanted to go in the first car of the train, but were told they could not go in, because of a "broken guard". Instead they went to the last car of the roller coaster train, two of them (NPH and NLP) took a seat in the front seat and LTA sat alone in the back. After 2 "rotations", one of the students describe seeing the train fly off the track and falling from the coaster (the last 2 cars broke off). One student was able to grab a pillar, another fell down into the grass, however student LTA hit the concrete from a height of 2 meter. The rest of the coaster continued back into the station.

All three students were taken to the hospital, where (LTA, 17 yrs) died at 2:30pm from a severe head injury. One other student (NPH) broke a finger and was treated for muscle pains, the last student has been transferred to a hospital in Hanoi for further checks and treatment for a head wound.

Earlier in 2014 (a year after opening) a part of a ferriswheel broke off and fell 2 meters down to the ground, causing 6 children to be hospitalized.

The local District Government has suspended the theme park from operating during the investigation.

The roller coaster was made by S?u Con (www.saucon.vn) in Vietnam and build in 2012. One train with 5 cars.

// From the author:

Prevention Measures:

Unfortunately Amusement Park Ride Safety has a long way to go in Vietnam, especially smaller regional parks.

Whilst everyone waits for the official investigation, it's important to note that these incidents could be prevented by doing the following:

- Detailed, hands-on daily documented inspections by maintenance and operations staff.

- - Scheduled, well executed (preventative) maintenance using high quality parts from the manufacturer. Including detailed monthly checks and annual maintenance inspections.

- Third party safety inspections (following EN or ASTM standards) by reputable and experienced companies.

- Buy equipment from high quality manufacturers.

- Well trained staff to detect and notify abnormalities and address damage immediately.

Safety Concerns:

Unfortunately it's clear that there could be very specific elements improved to make the rides at Dao Ngoc Xanh (Green Pearl Island) safer:

- Questionable preventative maintenance to prevent rust and damage on the rides

- No sufficient ride safety envelope around the coaster (see image above)

- No fencing around the coaster (any one can get hit by a moving coaster if they stand too close to the track)

- No safety check on lapbars or seatbelts (as seen in the video below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKFXpw57Bsk&ab_channel=Qu%C3%A1chT%E1%BB%8BnhVlog

Last year I wrote about a water park which had two drownings in 1 year: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/what-price-water-park-safety-after-drowning-daan-duijm/

Positive:

Luckily there are many operators who are trying to focus on making Vietnam's parks safer. If you need any help or advice on a Operations challenge you face in your park, feel free to reach out!

Fun is serious business, let's keep it safe together!

Copyright images: authors on https://rcdb.com/

And vcdn-english.vnecdn.net/