Investigators visit North Carolina amusement park after closing ride because of crack

By Hannah Schoenbaum And Kimberlee Kruesi, The Associated Press on July 3, 2023.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – State investigators were on site Monday at a North Carolina amusement park after a crack was discovered on a support beam on one of their popular roller coasters.

Tommy Petty, chief of the state Department of Labor’s Amusement Device Bureau, said investigators from his department “already came and went” from the Carowinds roller coaster Monday morning. He declined to share details about their findings.

Carowinds’ Fury 325 was shut down Friday. Video of the ride showed the beam bending, the top of it visibly detached, as cars with passengers whirled by.

The park’s website advertises the ride as the “tallest, fastest, longest giga coaster in North America” that crosses into both North Carolina and South Carolina. It has been open to the public since 2015.

The rest of the park remains open.

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