ANTIOCH, Ill. — Carnival rides were shut down at an Illinois community festival after a 10-year-old boy was thrown from his seat and seriously injured, authorities said.
The boy was riding Moby Dick, which locks people in at the shoulders and then goes up and down as speed increases. The boy was thrown Sunday as the ride was moving at Antioch's Taste of Summer, 60 miles (96.5 kilometers) northwest of Chicago, near the Wisconsin border.
“The carnival was packed, and so a lot of people experienced seeing it,” said Charles Smith, operations commander at the Antioch police department. “It’s a traumatic event for our community.”
The boy was taken to a hospital in Chicago with non-life-threatening injuries including multiple facial fractures and a significant leg injury, Antioch police said Monday.
Moby Dick was inspected this year and given a state permit, police said. Mayor Scott Gartner shut down rides at Taste of Summer after the boy was injured.
Antioch police Chief Geoff Guttschow said his department would investigate for any reckless or negligent acts that could have contributed to the incident. State regulators who inspect rides have joined the investigation, which could last months.
According to NBC Chicago, a release Monday from village officials said the victim was "seriously injured" and was flown to two different hospitals due to the "extent of his injuries." The outlet reported a GoFundMe set up by the victim's family claims he was flung "approximately 10-20 feet in the air."
There have been other incidents on summer rides this year. On July 2, eight people were trapped upside down on a roller coaster at a festival in Crandon, Wisconsin. A large crack was discovered in the support column of Fury 325, a towering roller coaster at Carowinds, an amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina on June 30.
Erin Maloney said she was waiting with her son to ride Moby Dick.
“I turned and I hear a woman screaming,” she said. “And my son said, ‘Mom, look.’ I turned around and this little boy was just on the pavement, not moving not responsive.”
