SANDUSKY, Ohio — Cedar Point announced on Thursday that the park will be closing the Top Thrill Dragster for the remainder of the 2021 season while it works with several agencies and other parties to investigate why a metal object fell from the top of the roller coaster and injured a female guest waiting in line.
— Cedar Point (@cedarpoint) August 19, 2021
"Our team has the health and welfare of our guest who was involved in Sunday's incident at Top Thrill Dragster at the forefront of our minds," the roller coaster park stated in a tweet. "We will continue to offer our support to her and her family in this unimaginably difficult time. We want to fully understand what happened and why."
Cedar Point representatives said that they will be conducting an investigation together with the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Division of Amusement Ride Safety and Fairs, third party investigators, engineers and the ride's manufacturer.
"We will not rush the investigation and will work tirelessly in our search for answers in the interest of improving safety," the tweet states.
At around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, a female guest was waiting in line to ride the Top Thrill Dragster when a small metal object became dislodged from a train at the top of the 420-foot-tall ride, park representatives said Sunday. The park said the falling object then struck the guest in line.
Sandusky Fire and Cedar Point EMS responded to the scene and transported her to a nearby hospital for care. Her condition is unknown.
RELATED: Female waiting in line injured after metal object falls from Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point
Footage captured by a Sandusky police officer's body camera shows around a dozen people surrounding the female as paramedics and firefighters bring in a stretcher and administer first aid. The female's cries of pain echo through the nearly 5-minute video, which we are choosing not to share.
A man, who said in the video that he is an off-duty Lorain County Sheriff's deputy, said he witnessed the incident and saw the object fall off the ride, hit the top of another structure, then it "shot downward." The man said he looked for the object after it fell but couldn't find it. He described it as something small, the size of a pop can, but he heard others say it may have been a cell phone.
RELATED: Witness describes object that hit woman at Cedar Point in body-cam footage from police
"The safety of our guests and associates is our top priority and we refuse to operate any ride or attraction without total confidence in its safety," the park tweeted Thursday.
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