Texas Giant: Woman dies at world's tallest roller coaster

New Delhi, July 20: The tallest steel-hybrid roller coaster in the world has claimed a life. A woman died yesterday in an accident while riding the Texas Giant roller coaster at Six Flags amusement park.

The accident happened just after 6:30 p.m. Friday (US local time) at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. It is 370 km north of Texas's largest city Houston in South Central USA.

Park spokeswoman Sharon Parker, while confirming the death, did not specify how the 50-year-old woman was killed.

But local media reported that the woman fell from the ride when the safety bar got released and she tumbled out during the down section of the ride.

Six Flags management has temporarily closed the section of the park around the accident site.
The Texas Giant reaches 14 stories high and has a drop of 79 degrees. It can carry up to 24 riders. The ride first opened in 1990 as an all-wooden coaster. It was converted to steel-hybrid rails in 2011.

Unfortunately, immediately after it reopened, the operators had to shut down the Texas Giant over the weekend due to a freak accident.

Riders were stranded at the peak of the coaster. They waited for 30 minutes, 14 stories up in the air, before carefully scaling down an emergency stairway to safety.

In July 2011, in New York, Sergeant James Hackemer, 29-year-old army veteran who lost both legs in the Iraq war and father of two children, was thrown from the "Ride of Steel" at the Darien Lake Theme Park.

Police said he was descending from one of the hills when he became dislodged from the roller coaster, fell to the ground and died.

A roller coaster ride is very popular during summer but experts warn that with intense speeds, and quick twists and turns, one can get hurt without realising it.

Giant facts

The Texas Giant is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas.

It is the tallest steel-hybrid roller coaster in the world at a height of 153 ft which features a 79° drop of 147 ft, and turns banked up to 95°.

Height: 47 m

Max speed: 105 km/h

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