Another accident at the Throne Fair. A carousel employee died in the night from Friday to Saturday in Paris, hit by a gondola from the roller coaster on which he was working, we learned from the capital’s fire brigade. The fairground, 40 years old, “was hit by one of the cars of the carousel in circumstances which remain to be established”, explained a spokesman for the fire department.
“The deceased person would have been in the path of a moving merry-go-round wagon”, specifies a source close to the file. The crash happened around 12:25 a.m. “When help arrived, he was already dead, he was probably killed instantly,” added the spokesperson. Twelve people in shock, including five children, were taken care of on the spot by the firefighters.
Questions around security
“An investigation has been opened on the count of manslaughter and concealed work”, indicated the Paris prosecutor’s office, requested by AFP. She was entrusted to the local reception and investigation service of the 12th arrondissement police station. The Throne Fair, a large Parisian funfair located on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes, reopened in early April after two years of absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In mid-April, six people had already been injured in another accident on a thrill ride.
The event has long had its share of accidents and questions around its safety. In 2018, a couple was slightly injured on a ride called “La Boule”, one of the cables had dropped. In 2014, a young man whose foot protruded when starting a merry-go-round had his toe ripped off and a fractured tibia. In 2007, a policeman intervening in a fight was killed by the arm of the gondola of a merry-go-round, after being pushed by a 15-year-old teenager.