WASHINGTON — Eight people were stranded upside down for several hours on a roller coaster at a county festival in Wisconsin, local media outlets reported.
According to WSAW, the passengers were riding a roller coaster at the Forest County Festival in Crandon, Wisconsin Sunday when the ride apparently became stuck.
The fire department was called for a "tipped-over carnival ride" and responded with gear appropriate for rescuing people hanging high off the ground. Another local station, WMTV, reported that firefighters from three counties responded to the incident.
“A rescue mission is not something that’s quick,” Firefighter EMT Erica Kostichka told WSAW. “Life safety is number one.”
Seven of the eight passengers were children.
“They did all very well,” Kostichka told WSAW. “Obviously, they were scared. They had been upside down for quite some time.”
One witness posted video of the rescue to Facebook, showing workers and rescue crews attempting to fix the problem before scaling the side of the ride.
The roller coaster that broke was a singular loop, with a series of connected cars that move around the interior — allowing riders to get the thrill of a looping roller coaster without the twists and turns that larger coasters have.
"Kudos to the little girl at the end who told the fireman to go rescue the older man first because he was struggling," Facebook user Scott Brass wrote. "That little girl deserves a medal of courage for sure."
It's not clear why the ride malfunctioned. Nobody was injured, although WMTV said all of the passengers were taken to a nearby hospital to be checked out.
A firefighter told WMTV that the ride had been recently inspected by state regulators, but didn't provide any other information about the cause of the stop.
