Ten people were left dangling 70 metres above the ground yesterday after a cable snapped on the "Cosmonaut" ride at a St Petersberg theme park.A cable securing the back of the (not incredibly safe looking) ride snapped, leaving the rocket-like carriage hanging over the gawkers below.
Rescue teams were able to reach the stranded Russians before anyone was seriously hurt.
It's not the first time that what we wussy Brits would call "health and safety" has been called into question at the theme park. A 12-year-old girl recently suffered injuries on a trampoline ride there in an incident that also involved a broken cable.
Clearly Russia has inferior cabling. That probably explains the whole Buran debacle.
For footage of the incident keep reading.
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Friday 16 July
By jim6848
Russian products "Inferior" ? A few years ago a machine manufacturer I was visiting told me they had just sold £4,000,000 of their machinery to Russia, however the Russians offered a substantial amount for a deposit in their own brand of bearings, the manufacturer gave them a list of what size ect. and number of bearings they wanted.When the Russians asked why they were being so exact they replied those were what would be needed to use when building the machinery the Russians wanted. The Russians then paid a deposit instead. Enough said.
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Friday 16 July
By Adam
Did any of them buy the photo at the end of the ride?
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Wednesday 21 July
By Squonk
lol
Friday 16 July
By Peter
As usual due to sloppy journalism and investigation the visual facts don't support this overblown story.
The 'snapped cable' is an electrical cable so it wouldn't be supporting the rocket - it might have been controlling it perhaps? Guess the answer is never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
If someone with half a brain had actually investigated, then the report might have contained the real truth and the real level of danger - to me it looked like a stressful inconvenience rather than some life threatening event. I guess to a brainless reporter it was probably apocalyptic at least?
Geez someone please save us from these dumb asses.
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Friday 16 July
By royb
Check your common sense - if no support cable was broken why was the ride vertical instead of horizontal as it should have been?
Friday 16 July
By stuartpaty51
if it was just the electrical cable that had snapped then how was the rocket hangin upside down ya muppit
Friday 16 July
By ged
It would seem the journalists are much clever than you as the cable is NOT an electric one,it has a multi stranded galv core with pvc to stop corrosion,and there is several of these making up the main cable covered with a outer cosmetic layer,any dumb ass can see that Geez !!!
ged
Friday 16 July
By Carl
Hey Pete, how about we suspend you vertically 70 metres above the ground, then you can tell us if you still think it's just a 'stressful inconvenience !
Friday 16 July
By steve
Great publicity for this Russian theme park..........i bet there profits will rocket!
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Friday 16 July
By cdrs
LOL !!!!
Friday 16 July
By stuartpaty51
right on ROYB peter must be american or something cause rides being supported on elecrical cables..... as the saying goes ONLY IN AMERICA!!!!
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Saturday 17 July
By ellie
It was in Russia :S
Friday 16 July
By mike
lucky it wasn't Americans in it ,think the average weight is about 20 stone each ,and that's just the kids
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Friday 16 July
By Bryce
Electrial????? If you look carefully you can see they are plastic coated steel cables.
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Sunday 18 July
By fabbri
poorest design in a ride ive ever seen. Anyone with a saftey concious could see that ride would eventually give.
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Monday 19 July
By JR
Good Lord. I just visited that park yesterday. I noted that the Rocket (as well as a few other rides) were out of use, but I thought it is just a matter of normal maintenance. I JOKED to my girlfriend that of course there has been an accident, that's why the rocket is now lying on the ground.
It's a crazy machine as it is. No accidents would be needed in addition.
For that guy who wise-assed that "it's only an electric cable that has gone broken", I suggest a reality check. This machine is a huge fast-moving crane where the rocket hangs on cables from both ends. The rocket flies in circle and also rotates around its own axel.
Another security flaw which this park has is that none of its rollercoasters has any sort of safety fences. If you are stupid of crazy enough, nothing will prevent you from walking 2 meters on grass and climb on the track, which at lowest is nearly at land level - at 1,5 metres max.
This surprises me, because otherwise the park is well taken care of and looks really nice.
Monday 19 July
By Laura
Only mad goes to the russian theme park. Or to the Russia.
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Monday 19 July
By only_me
If you look close you will see that it is an electric cable, as Peter said. Probably some lights or something on the rocket that lights up..? Google pictures "YSLYCY"
http://www.kabelkauf.de/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/y/s/yslycy-jz_29.jpg
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Monday 19 July
By JR
Stop the nonsence. The difference between you and me is that you try to look at the picture, whereas I regularly visit this park and see the device in nature.
The broken cable is one of the two that hold the ride in the air. Of course it has some electric cables inside it too. The device has a lot of lights and it is equiped with loudspeakers that make a rocket-sound at least when it starts. I don't know about the soundview in the air... Never been up there and especially after this, never will.
Wednesday 21 July
By tubbyengineer
Peter it shows both the electrical cable and if you look a bit closer the steel cable that snapped, admittedly the steel cable is a little harder to see but its there at top and bottom of the picture
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