Horrified witnesses describe the moment a fairground ride ‘torn apart’ catapulting the carriage into the crowd, with four people, including an 11-year-old girl, taken to hospital

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Horrified witnesses have described the moment a fairground ride ‘broke’, catapulting a carriage into the crowd, with four people, including an 11-year-old girl, taken to hospital – as a major health and safety investigation begins.

Emergency services were called to the scene at Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park, London, at around 6.20pm yesterday.

Among the injured were an 11-year-old girl, a 50-year-old man, another 40-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman.

Kareen Swaby, 41, went to the event for “just a nice family day” with loved ones before things took a terrifying turn.

Mrs Swaby witnessed the shocking incident and told MailOnline how she saw a carriage on a ride “come off its hinges and hit the man in the head”.

She stood next to a man who was injured from the trip and said: “Blood was coming from his head. It rose again and fell again. At this point, I didn’t know if he was conscious or not.

Mrs. Swaby described how ca situation unfolded, he heard a “little girl screaming at the top of her lungs.”

She added: ‘So I said, are you okay? Where are your parents? Your family? who are you with She said, this is my grandfather. My grandfather, this is him.

— So she screams, he’s on the floor.

The Metropolitan Police said “inquiries are underway to establish the circumstances” and that “the health and safety executive will be informed”.

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Other fairgoers told MailOnline that “all hell broke loose” and people were screaming and crying after a ride apparently suffered a catastrophic failure that sent people “flying through the air”.

One person described the scenes as “like a horror movie” and another person added: “People were running towards us and crying and screaming.”

An eyewitness added: “People were running towards us and crying and screaming… I saw a lady with blood running down her face. She had paramedics carry her off the ride.

“As we were leaving they were putting up higher fences where someone was on the floor, they were being attended to by paramedics and the higher fences had black sheets around them and you couldn’t see so someone was really hurt and they were giving them away. privacy.’

The witness said the rides stopped shortly after the incident and said: “I heard someone say someone got off the ride but I didn’t see it.”

Another eyewitness said: “I’m told a car crashed and all hell broke loose.

– It was awful. The screams were terrifying. Four people flew and walked through the air. It was like a horror movie.

The ride that tore apart is believed to be the ‘Froggit’ roundabout with the jump and smile.

A spokesman for Lambeth Council said: “The incident was reported at around 6.20pm today and emergency services quickly attended the scene to treat four people who were injured.

“Paramedics and teams at the scene cordoned off the area and those who were injured were taken to nearby hospitals for further treatment.

“The situation is being closely monitored. The area around the race is secured and the funfair has been closed.

“A thorough investigation is being carried out to determine the cause of the malfunction.

“Additional safety inspections are being carried out on all rides and attractions at the show

“Thank you to the emergency services for their quick response and dedication. The safety and well-being of our visitors remains our top priority.”

Lambeth Police said: “Emergency services responded at around 6.20pm on Saturday to a fairground run gone awry at the Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park.

“Four people were taken to hospital. We are waiting for an evaluation of their conditions. No one is caught in the race.

They added: “Enquiries are underway to establish the circumstances. Cords are installed on site. The Health and Safety Executive will be informed.’

The force later added: “The four people taken to hospital in Brockwell Park are a man and woman in their 40s, a man in his 50s and an 11-year-old girl.

“None of the four are believed to be in a life-threatening condition. We await full hospital assessments.

A spokesman for London Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 6.18pm today to reports of an incident at Brockwell Park, SE24.

“We sent more resources to the scene, including four ambulance crews and members of our hazardous area response team. We also dispatched the London Air Ambulance.

“We treated four people at the scene and took them all to major trauma centers.”