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Carnival-goers save lives after Magic Carpet ride spins out of control at Michigan festival

Social media is livid with the operator who has been accused of running from the scene without stopping the ride that was on the verge of toppling

Crisis struck the giant Magic Carpet Ride at the 95th Annual National Cherry Festival in Michigan when it began whirling out of control, tipping sideways with people on board and nearly collapsed. A severe tragedy was avoided by quick-acting good Samaritans, who rushed to the ride and attempted to stop the apparatus from falling apart. The incident happened on the night of Thursday, July 8, around 11 pm. Th entire episode was captured on video as the carnival ride seems to detach from the foundation and begins tilting backward. The video has since managed to draw utter confusion, relief, and severe flak against the ride operator who was missing from the site.

News of the shocking incident that could have left many injured comes after a Florida Ferris wheel operator attacked a Black mom and got beaten up by the crowd. In recent times, carnival rides might have become common birthday party themes for celebrities like Kylie Jenner, but just last year, a three-year-old girl died after falling from an illegal carnival ride while on vacation in Mexico. The Michigan tragedy was avoided by a group of people present at the scene, who were seen rushing to the grill in front of the Magic Carpet Ride and keep it from toppling behind. 

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In the video, the ride can be seen spinning alright for a moment before it switches gears and starts swaying slightly, tipping off backward. The people on the ride are trapped in the seats, spiraling in the air, as the ride's operator can be seen jumping off the ride's platform as it kind of resembles a dancing shimmy routine.

The malfunctioning ride was noticed by one man first, who rushed to the apparatus and tried using his body as a counterweight to stabilize its movement. Soon, other festival-goers gathered around the Magic Carpet Ride to stop it from falling and thus hurting the 10 people onboard the rife. The video of the incident was captured by Huffington Post's Phillip Lewis, whose multiple clips showing how the disaster was averted have been viewed 2 million times. The people riding on the faulty apparatus were also freed once people were able to manually stop the ride's pendulum feature from swinging.

People were seen hugging family and friends after being rescued from the ride and no one was hurt, reports UpNorthLive News. The National Cherry Festival's executive director, Kat Paye, also told the Daily Post that the ride has been taken down and is currently being inspected by the manufacturer. "Inspections of the rides happen daily and written reports are filled out and completed on each ride every morning prior to operation," Paye said. "I am grateful for the quick response of staff and community members and very thankful that there were no injuries," Paye added.

Social media, however, did not seem too pleased in the comment section of Lewis' tweets. While the operators of the ride, Arnold Amusements Inc., still remain unsure about what caused it, social media has been buzzing about how the operator could abandon riders that way. "Where the heck is the operator? Why didn’t he immediately stop the ride?" asked one user. Another chimed in: "I don’t understand why the operator didn’t hit the E-stop. Every ride has an emergency button to stop immediately. Looks like to me the operator abandon his position from panic . Glad no one got hurt though." Others asked: "Omg did the ride operator even try to stop it? I couldn’t tell if it was slowing down or going higher." Others sympathized with the riders, saying: "The people on the ride didn’t have a clue as to what was going on. Why didn’t the operator STOP the damn ride?"

One user however made the observation that the "first guy" who was being applauded for his quick thinking to rush and grab the rails of the ride, was in fact the operator. "That guy right there is the ride operator... you can see him jump out of the control box and then climb on the side and motion for other people to join him ... there is a video at the beginning of this thread that shows it from this angle," pointed out the user. There was also significant distaste about carnival rides in general as people took the time to point out this is why they don't go on those rides. "I’m sorry, you have to be insane to ride those carnival rides. Stop by and check out the dudes assembling those things the day before they open. Not the sharpest tools in the shed. Those things are held together with duct tape, and whatever else they can repurpose," noted a user.