List of deadly roller coaster accidents

The table below is an incomplete list of roller coaster accidents which resulted in one or more fatality.

Mechanical failure

Roller Coaster	Amusement Park	No. killed	No. injured	Date	Description	Ref.
Big Dipper	Battersea Fun Fair	5	13	May 30, 1972	The coaster's cable lift snapped while the train was on the lift hill, causing it to roll back and derailed. Ride closed after that, and was demolished in 1972/1973.	^[1]
Big Dipper	Krug Park	4	20	July 7, 1930	A loose bolt in the brake shoe got caught in the train's rear wheel, causing a chain reaction that led to all 4 cars derailing off the track. 4 people died, with other 20 people injured.	^[2]
Mindbender	Galaxyland	3	1	June 14, 1986	A design flaw on the fourth car assembly caused the wheel to detach from the track, and the train itself. This in turn, caused the car's lap bar to become unlocked, throwing out all 4 passengers on the train to the concrete floor below. The train continued to move along the track and into the final loop, but friction from the car's derailment slowed the train and prevented it from clearing the loop. As it rolled backward down the loop, the detached car crashed into a concrete pillar about midway down, stopping the train abruptly. Three of the four passengers thrown from the ride died, while the fourth was left critically injured with permanent, life-altering effects.	^[3]
Wild Wonder	Gillian's Wonderland Pier	2	2	August 28, 1999	The Zamperla approved anti rollback dogs was replaced with an unapproved locally made one. On that fateful day, A mother and her child was boarded the car, and as it was about to reach the top of the lift hill, the dogs lost contact with the lift hill and rolled back into the station, hurling them off the ride, both died instantly by impacts.	^[4]
Fujin Raijin II	Expoland	1	19	May 5, 2007	A broken axle caused the 2nd car of the train to derail, killing the woman who was on that car. It also caused the train to violently stop, injuring 19 other riders.	^[5]
Treetop Twister	Lightwater Valley	1	0	June 20, 2001	A faulty wiring in the ride control caused the block to be ignored, which in turn caused two cars to collide with each other	^[6]
Loop the Loop	White City	1	3	May 30, 1906	A car jumped the wooden track due to poor maintenance on the track. 1 man was killed, with other 3 injuried.	^[7]}
Cobra	Tivoli Friheden	1	1	July 14, 2022	The seats of the final car became partially detached from the wheels.

Fatal falls

Roller Coaster	Amusement Park	Person	Date	Description	Ref.
Rolling Thunder	Six Flags Great Adventure	Employee	August 16, 1981	During a test run, failed to secure his lap bar and assume a good riding position
Black Witch	Magic Harbor	Park guest	April 3, 1983	Restraint failure
Rail Blazer	Six Flags St. Louis	Park guest	July 7, 1984	Fainted during the ride causing her to fall from the stand-up restraint
Comet	Lincoln Park	Employee	August 17, 1986	Possibly standing up
Lightin' Loops	Six Flags Great Adventure	Park guest	June 17, 1987	Restraint not closed properly	^[8]
Mini Dragon	Funland Park	Park guest	September 11, 1999		^[9]
Spinning Coaster Maihim	Tokyo Dome City	Park guest	January 30, 2011		^[10]
Superman Ride of Steel	Darien Lake	Park guest	July 8, 2011	War veteran who had lost both his legs.	^[11]
New Texas Giant	Six Flags Over Texas	Park guest	July 20, 2013		^[12]
Inferno	Terra Mítica	Park guest	July 7, 2014		^[13]

Struck by the train

Roller Coaster	Amusement Park	Person	Date	Description	Ref.
Excalibur	Six Flags AstroWorld	Employee	August 9, 1997	While working on a section of track, a train hit the employee. A signal had been sent to the ride operator stating that the track was clear.
Batman The Ride	Six Flags Over Georgia	Employee	May 26, 2002
Batman The Ride	Six Flags Over Georgia	Park guest	June 28, 2008	Decapitated by the passing train while either retrieving a lost hat or taking a shortcut to lunch	^[14]
Vampire	La Ronde	Employee	July 6, 2012	Entered a restricted area for unknown reasons.	^[15]
Raptor	Cedar Point	Park guest	August 13, 2015	Entered a restricted area.

Other

Name	Amusement park	No. killed	No. injured	Date	Description	Ref.
Fire In The Hole	Silver Dollar City	1	Unknown	July 1980	An operator switched a train to the service area, unaware it contained riders. The entrance to the service area had a low roof. All passengers escaped serious injury except one man who did not hear shouts to duck.	^[16]
Raging Bull	Six Flags Great America	1	0	May 3, 2003	A 11 years old girl died from heart condition after riding Raging Bull. She had a known heart condition, and has been seeing a cardiologist for treatment.	^[17]
Virginia Reel	Palisades Park	6	125	August 13, 1944	A fire started in Virginia Reel at Palisades Park, which destroyed half the park's rides. All the fatalities were children that were riding the Virginia Reel coaster, 125 people were injured in the massive blaze.	^[18]
Loch Ness Monster	Busch Gardens Williamsburg	0	1	October 29, 2021	A park employee found blood on the last car. Unidentified reasons. Probably a nosebleed.

List of deadly roller coaster accidents

Mechanical failure

Fatal falls

Struck by the train

Other

References

See also