The Sky Flyer ride was part of the annual Vogue Des Noix funfair, which is one of France’s biggest, attracting around 100,000 people to the Loire town of Firminy, near St Etienne.
But it turned to tragedy at around 2:20 p.m. on Monday, when a 23-year-old mother-of-two from the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, who was living in Firminy, and her 20-year-old companion were flung from a seat on the attraction.
The swing was heading downwards when it hit another carousel next to it, causing the two women to fall around 45 feet onto concrete. The other woman is in a critical condition in hospital.
Patrick, 61, who only gave his first name, told Le Progres: “I’m traumatized, I was there Monday night, I saw everything.
“I heard a big crack, I raised my head and I saw the two girls fall. I shouted, rushing towards the owner, to stop the ride. He hadn’t seen anything.”
“I have always lived in Firminy, I love the Vogue Des Noix but it cannot continue like this. Everyone is shocked, we must stop the festivities,” he added.
Initial reports suggest that strong winds might have been to blame, but the St Etienne prosecutor David Charmatz said that the accident was probably caused by the two rides being so close to each other, Le Parisien reported.
He added that there appeared to be no mechanical fault to blame, because the equipment was “subject to monitoring and regular checks.”
The fair was closed to the public on Wednesday and the mayor of Firminy, Marc Petit, said that a decision would be made soon on whether to re-open it.
He said: “For decades, rides have been central to Firminy, which hosts the biggest city center carnival in France.
“The spaces between each attraction have been studied to the millimeter. As every year, we took extremely strong safety measures.
“Yet this was the first year that these two rides were placed next to each other,” he said, adding that it was “a decision that has cost the life of a young 23-year-old woman who is a mother of two children.”
Police have opened a “homicide and unintentional injuries” investigation. Counselors and medical support staff are offering help to witnesses of the accident and its victims’ families, Le Figaro reported.
