Youth struck by ride at Red River Ex

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This article was published 21/06/2013 (4721 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A boy was rushed to hospital after being struck by a ride at the Red River Exhibition early Thursday evening.

The accident took place at about 6:15 p.m.

A witness to the event said she saw the boy, around 12 years old, run onto the track of the Crazy Mouse roller-coaster after he dropped his hat. He was likely trying to retrieve it, said Uma Jacoby, 13.

Jacoby said one of the Crazy Mouse’s cars hit the boy, who was left unconscious and later attended to by paramedics.

“He was hit really hard,” she said. “His parents must have been there, too, because there was a woman screaming for him.”

Jacoby and her friend, Michaela Rykiss, 13, were in line waiting to ride the Crazy Mouse. As soon as the boy was hit, the ride was shut down, Uma said.

Jacoby denied the rumours swirling around the exhibition grounds the boy was pushed from behind.

“He definitely wasn’t pushed,” she insisted.

Red River Ex CEO Garth Rogerson said initial eyewitness reports indicate that the boy was not on the ride in question — the Crazy Mouse — but somehow wandered onto the roller-coaster track and was struck by the ride.

Rogerson said the ride was shut down immediately. It must now be inspected by provincial authorities.

Rogerson could not confirm the boy’s condition, but said, “He’s obviously in serious condition because he was hit by the car. I mean, these cars move fast.”

Police are investigating.