Imagine being stranded upside down in mid air on a roller coaster for half an hour after it came to an abrupt halt.

In Britain, 28 people were left dangling face-down (photos below) 65 feet in the air for that length of time after an Air Galactica ride at Alton Towers stopped abruptlly during a heavy downpour on Monday (May 2).

The incident saw distressed passengers screaming and crying, reported the Daily Mail. They were worried they would plunge to the ground if their safety belts were to malfunction too.

Sixteen tourists in China faced the same nightmare on the same day when they too were trapped in their seats 70 metres above ground when their ride came to a rude stop. They had to endure 20 minutes of suspense before park workers came to the rescue.

The incident at Wanda theme park in Nanchang city in China’s Jiangxi province saw workers unbuckling the harnesses of the passengers before they clambered down a narrow staircase leading to the ground.

China’s CCTV station reported that the brake system was triggered after a signal was detected.

Some thought it could be the work of a bird – which was the cause of another roller coaster ride which stopped suddenly. It happened at Beijing’s Happy Valley Amusement Park in March.

But the incident was far more horrendous for the riders as they were left hanging upside down for 20 minutes – like the one at Alton Towers.

Fun ride turns to nightmare when a roller coasters break down

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

CCTV, Shanghaiist, YouTube screengrabs, Stomp

In 2013, firemen rescued 11 fun-seekers, who were stranded for two hours, after their ‘SkyLoop” expressin China broke down.

On Tuesday evening (May 3), Disneyland Resort in Anaheim had to evacuate riders and shut down its California Screamin’ roller coaster for an hour after a passenger was caught using a selfie stick during the ride.

Disneyland and Disney World resorts introduced the ban on the sticks last June because they had posed risks to passengers and its performing cast.

chenj@sph.com.sg

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Sentosa’s Battlestar Galactica roller coaster malfunctions

Roller coaster rolls backwards in downpour 

Roller coaster car stuck at high point of ride for hours

Imagine being stranded in mid-air on a roller coaster for 20 minutes after it came to an abrupt halt.

Holiday fun was turned into a nightmare for 16 tourists when they were trapped in their seats 70 metres above ground when the ride came to a rude stop on Monday (May 2).

They had to endure 20 minutes of suspense before park workers came to the rescue.

The incident at Wanda theme park in Nanchang city in China’s Jiangxi province saw workers unbuckling the harnesses of the passengers before they clambered down a narrow staircase leading to the ground.

China’s CCTV station reported that the brake system was triggered after a signal was detected.

Some thought it could be the work of a bird – which was the cause of another roller coaster ride which stopped suddenly. It happened at Beijing’s Happy Valley Amusement Park in March.

But the incident was far more nightmarish for the riders as they were left hanging upside down for 20 minutes.

In 2013, firemen rescued 11 fun-seekers, who were stranded for two hours, after their ‘SkyLoop” express broke down.

On Tuesday evening (May 3), Disneyland Resort in Anaheim had to evacuate riders and shut down its California Screamin’ roller coaster for an hour after a passenger was caught using a selfie stick during the ride.

Disneyland and Disney World resorts introduced the ban on the sticks last June because they had posed risks to passengers and its performing cast.

chenj@sph.com.sg

Read also:

Sentosa’s Battlestar Galactica roller coaster malfunctions

Roller coaster rolls backwards in downpour 

Roller coaster car stuck at high point of ride for hours

A Pakistani woman was drugged, strangled and then her body set ablaze because she helped her friend elope, police said on Thursday (May 5), announcing the arrest of 14 people in a twist on the grim practice of “honour killings”.

The victim, believed to be around 20 years old, was killed then burned in a Suzuki van on the orders of the village jirga (council) in Makol in northwest Pakistan on April 29, district police chief Khurram Rasheed told AFP.”Police have arrested 13 members of the jirga who ordered the murder of the girl,” Rasheed said.

The victim’s mother was also arrested, he said, because she supported the jirga’s decision.

The 14 are due to appear in a local anti-terrorism court Thursday on murder and terrorism charges, he said.

The owner of the van was also a member of the jirga. His van was burned because the eloping woman – who is believed to be safely in hiding – travelled in it when she ran away.

Hundreds of women are murdered by their relatives in Pakistan each year on the pretext of defending family “honour”, but it is rare to hear of those who facilitate elopements being killed as well.

Pakistan amended its criminal code in 2005 to prevent men who kill female relatives escaping punishment by pardoning themselves as an “heir” of the victim.

But it is left to a judge’s discretion to decide whether to impose a prison sentence when other relatives of the victim forgive the killer – a loophole which critics say remains exploited.”A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness” – a film telling the story of a rare survivor of an attempted honour killing – won the Academy Award for best documentary short in February.

Amid publicity for the film, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to eradicate the “evil” of honour killings but no fresh legislation has been tabled since then.

Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are to launch a joint patrol in their waters after a recent surge of kidnappings by a radical Islamic group, according to an agreement struck Thursday.

The decision to patrol the Sulu and Celebes seas, which together form a key waterway between the three countries, comes just over a week after the southern Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf beheaded a Canadian captive.

Abu Sayyaf gangs have earned many millions of dollars from kidnapping foreigners and locals in the region since the early 1990s.

Ten Indonesian sailors were abducted off the southern Philippines by Abu Sayyaf in March, but returned home last week after being freed.

“We will undertake coordinated patrol in the maritime areas of our common concern,” Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi said after a meeting initiated by Indonesia, and attended by foreign ministers and military commanders.

The Sulu and Celebes seas are used as for the passage of 55 million metric tonnes of goods and over 18 million people per year.

Abu Sayyaf leader declares support for Islamic State

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

The Star/ANN, YouTube screengrabs

The three countries also agreed to set up a hotline to communicate faster during emergency situations, improve coordination when giving assistance to people and ships in distress as well as intensifying information and intelligence sharing.

“We recognised that threats from armed robberies against ships, kidnapping and other transnational crimes if not addressed appropriately can undermine the confidence in trade and commerce in our region,” Marsudi added.

Authorities say the Abu Sayyaf group is still holding at least 11 foreign hostages – four sailors from Indonesia and four others from Malaysia, a Canadian tourist, a Norwegian resort owner and a Dutch birdwatcher.

Abu Sayyaf is believed to have just a few hundred militants but has withstood repeated US-backed military offensives against it, using the mountainous jungle terrain of Jolo and nearby islands to its advantage.

Although its leaders have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, analysts say they are more focused on lucrative kidnappings-for-ransom than on setting up a caliphate.