OAKWOOD THEME PARK will reopen for the half term holiday in Wales on Saturday (Oct 29).
The park was closed following an accident on Sunday in which a man was reportedly thrown from the Treetops rollercoaster, leading to a medical evacuation by Wales Air Ambulance, and the evacuation and closure of the site.
A statement from Oakwood Theme Park released on Monday (Oct 24) reads as follows: “We are deeply saddened by the incident that took place on our Treetops ride on Sunday 23rd October in which one of our visitors sustained an injury.
“We are co-operating fully with the HSE investigation into the incident and are unable to comment further at this stage.
“The health, safety, and wellbeing of all our visitors and staff is of paramount importance to us.
“Following guidance from the HSE, Oakwood Theme Park will re-open for the half term holiday in Wales on Saturday 29th October as planned with Treetops remaining closed during the period of investigation.
“All guests affected by yesterday’s closure, will be contacted directly by a member of our team.”
On Tuesday, a woman claiming to be a former employee of the theme park, Faith MacKeen released a video on TikTok claiming that safety at the park was inadequate, and maintenance procedures were not being adhered to.
By lunchtime Ms MacKeen’s video had been viewed several thousand times.
She said: “To my knowledge the safety inspections are not up to standard and do not happen often enough.
“The budget for the maintenance of rides has been reduced in recent times”, she explained.
One person commented on the video, claiming to be a maintenance engineer at Oakwood, verifying Ms McKeen’s comments.
However, the full facts of the incident are currently unknown and under investigation so any claims by those who suggest they have the answers should be taken with a pinch of salt.
HSE Head of operations in Wales, Sian Clayton confirmed: “Our inspectors are investigating an incident on the Treetops rollercoaster at Oakwood Theme Park.
She added: “We will provide more information when we can.”
Speaking to the BBC, Dr Harriet Lloyd, from Carmarthen, said she was waiting for her husband and son, who were on the ride during the incident.
She witnessed people on the ride “started screaming and saying stop” before a man was thrown to the ground.
Dr Lloyd said: “One of the carriages on the back of the ride had been shaking as it had been going round. It looked like the last few carriages were loose and wobbling.”
She said her husband had noticed there was a man and a teenage girl in the carriage at the back of the ride.
“When he turned around the man was no longer there, and then they saw him on the second descent of the ride, and he’d obviously been thrown out of carriage.
“He could see him and then the passengers were trying to help hold the last carriage on because the girl was still in it and it was still moving around.”
Dr Lloyd said that after the ride was stopped her husband was then told that staff were going to assist the man, and an air ambulance came about 15 minutes later.
“I wasn’t on the ride but I was a bit upset at the fact that my husband and son were on the ride, so if they had been a couple carriages back it could have been one of them.”
The Mirror has reported that one eyewitness, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was among the first people on the ride but was told there would be a 10-minute wait as engineers were working on an issue.
“We waited for a bit and saw the engineers right in front of us doing some work,” he said.
“We decided to come back in a bit. We returned 10 minutes later and saw people getting on the ride, so we returned and sat near the front.
“Less than a minute into the ride I heard horrific screams and noticed the back end of the coaster slipping and sliding off the track and a girl crying in severe distress and what appeared to be the bar raised.”
He added: “I shouted for the ride to stop and staff were clearly panicking to get it stopped. It went on for a bit before it grinded to a halt.
“We had to evacuate the ride on a bend and staff were present to help people off. I saw a mobile phone and a flip flop on the grass and realised someone must have come off the ride.
“A group of girls were in shock and I asked them if they were ok which clearly they weren’t.
“When I went to retrieve my bag I saw a gentleman lying face down with a member of staff and a paramedic. He wasn’t moving but staff later told me he was conscious and talking.”
