Alton Towers to remain closed tomorrow for investigations into ride crash
Alton Towers will be closed again tomorrow after a crash on 'The Smiler' rollercoaster which seriously injured four people, including three teenagers.
The Staffordshire theme park has announced that it will be closed on Thursday for a second day after the crash after investigations got underway today.
Two of those seriously injured are believed to be Joe Pugh and his girlfriend Leah Washington.
Mr Pugh, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, is a textile design student at the University of Huddersfield and works at the Oaks Working Men's Club in Barnsley.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the club said: "After hearing the news about the terrible accident at Alton Towers, it has to come to our attention that a member of our staff was involved.
"We at the Oaks WMC would like to extend our prayers and best wishes in the speedy recovery of our barman Joe Pugh and his girlfriend Leah Washington.
"Please be respectful of the families' wishes as we don't have all the details of the incident as their attention will be focused on Joe and Leah's recovery.
"All we hope is that they both recover and we have Joe back behind the bar as soon as possible."
Friends used Twitter to send messages to the pair.
Kay Eggleston wrote: "Wishing Joe Pugh and his girlfriend a speedy recovery after yesterday."
Jessica Martin wrote: "Cannot actually believe what's happened! Get well very soon, Joe Pugh. Just seen you on the news, can't miss that jacket. Ha ha! Love you."
Alton Towers sent Mr Pugh a tweet yesterday confirming that the theme park was open.
The Alton Towers Resort Twitter account wrote: "Joe Pugh. At the moment all of our rides and attractions are scheduled to be open today. We hope that you enjoy your visit!"
West Midlands Ambulance Service was called to the theme park and four air ambulances, including a crew from Cosford, were at the scene.
The 999 call was received from the resort at 2.09pm yesterday reporting that a carriage of The Smiler had collided with a stationary carriage.
999 call made at 2.09pm.
Four people; a 27-year-old man, 18-year-old male and two female passengers aged 17 and 19, suffer serious leg injuries
Reports say the crash involved a stationary carriage that had been sent to test the track after an earlier problem
16 treated in all
Platform built for emergency services to reach riders 25ft in the air, at a 45degree angle.
Rope rescue staff working to release and treat the four seriously injured teenagers.
12 other riders with minor injuries and it is hoped they will be discharged from the scene.
Those seriously injured airlifted to major trauma centres at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire and Royal Stoke University Hospital
Thirty-two firefighters from Staffordshire sent to the scene along with four air ambulances
Witnesses report hearing passengers screaming for help, some covered in blood
Theme park says it will carry out a full investigation and will not open on Wednesday
Concerned relatives can ring 0800 056 0154
Two of those seriously injured are believed to be Joe Pugh and his girlfriend Leah Washington.
Mr Pugh, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, is a textile design student at the University of Huddersfield and works at the Oaks Working Men's Club in Barnsley.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the club said: "After hearing the news about the terrible accident at Alton Towers, it has to come to our attention that a member of our staff was involved.
"We at the Oaks WMC would like to extend our prayers and best wishes in the speedy recovery of our barman Joe Pugh and his girlfriend Leah Washington.
"Please be respectful of the families' wishes as we don't have all the details of the incident as their attention will be focused on Joe and Leah's recovery.
"All we hope is that they both recover and we have Joe back behind the bar as soon as possible."
Friends used Twitter to send messages to the pair.
Kay Eggleston wrote: "Wishing Joe Pugh and his girlfriend a speedy recovery after yesterday."
Jessica Martin wrote: "Cannot actually believe what's happened! Get well very soon, Joe Pugh. Just seen you on the news, can't miss that jacket. Ha ha! Love you."
Alton Towers sent Mr Pugh a tweet yesterday confirming that the theme park was open.
The Alton Towers Resort Twitter account wrote: "Joe Pugh. At the moment all of our rides and attractions are scheduled to be open today. We hope that you enjoy your visit!"
A press conference held at Alton Towers last night was told that the most serious injuries suffered by three teenagers and a 27-year-old man were not life-threatening.
The park announced that it would not be opening today "following the dreadful incident", which a spokesman described as the worst in its history.
Nick Varney, chief executive of Merlin Entertainments which runs the Staffordshire attraction, said a fail-safe designed to prevent the sort of accident which left four people with serious injuries "didn't work the way it used to".
Mr Varney made the decision to close the park yesterday evening, and said he was unable to comment on when it might reopen, with investigators looking at the possible cause of the incident.
He told BBC News: " At this moment in time I just thought it (closure) was the right thing to do yesterday. It was an unusual and very tragic accident.
"Today we will take ... a more measured view of what was going on and whether it was specific to just the Smiler and take a view about opening Alton Towers.
"I and the whole team are totally devastated by what happened yesterday."
He said the two carriages "should not have been on the same piece of track".
He said: "Technically that should not have happened.
"The Smiler is a relatively new ride, all rides have teething problems when they open. Guest safety on those sorts of incidents is not really a major issue in the sense that when you're on a rollercoaster car, the car can't come off the track and you are restrained in the seats.
"When you have a glitch and the ride stops, it's not really an issue of safety to the riders.
"What happened yesterday is something that there are other fail-safes for. There are other braking locks that should stop two cars being on the same track, but that didn't work the way it was supposed to."
Three of the most seriously injured victims have been taken to the Royal Stoke Hospital and the other to University Hospital Coventry after receiving emergency treatment. Their families have all been informed.
Dramatic video footage emerged of the aftermath of the crash. The footage shows a train on the ride rolling backwards, as one man is heard pleading for the ride to be stopped.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "There were 16 occupants on board the carriage which collided with a stationary unoccupied carriage. A platform was built in order for emergency services to reach the occupants on the ride who were approximately 25 feet up in the air at an angle of about 45 degrees.
"The Trust's HART paramedics, doctors, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service and Alton Towers' rope rescue staff worked at height to carefully release and treat the occupants. The focus on the emergency services was to treat and release four of the occupants who were the most seriously injured.
"Two males (18 years and 27 years) and two females (19 years and 17 years) sustained lower leg injuries. All four were given advanced trauma care, pain relief and immobilisation and were each carefully extricated from the ride and onto the platform before being lowered to the ground.
"The 27-year-old male was then airlifted to University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire whilst the others were flown to Royal Stoke University Hospital for further emergency treatment.
"The remaining 12 occupants, six women and six men, suffered less serious injuries. They were released one at a time over a time period of four hours and lowered to the ground in order for a further assessment of their condition. One of the twelve, a male in his 20s was treated for neck and abdominal injury and was taken to the Royal Stoke University Hospital by land ambulance for further assessment and treatment."
Community first responders based at the theme park were first on scene and four ambulances, the Midlands Air Ambulance from Cosford with a MERIT trauma doctor on board, two further BASICS doctors and several senior paramedic managers have been sent to the scene.
Ian Crabbe, director of Alton Towers Resort said: "May I first say that my colleagues and I are devastated by what has happened here today, and our only priority at this time is to work with the emergency services to get the 16 people affected off the ride safely, and most importantly those who are injured are being cared for.
"Our concern is with and for them and for their safety, and all our thoughts and efforts are focused on them.
"Just to recap at around 2pm this afternoon there was an incident on the Smiler ride involving two carriages coming together on a low section of the track. One of the carriages was empty and the other had 16 guests in.
"The park's first responder team were on site in minutes, and the emergency services shortly after. The emergency services, including the air ambulances, remain in attendance and are assisting resort staff as they work to evacuate those on the ride.
"We can confirm that four guests have sustained serious injuries, and they are being treated at the scene until they can be evacuated.
"A full investigation is underway, and representatives of the Health and Safety Executive are already on site and working with us.
"But as I said our absolute priority at the moment is to ensure that all the guests affected are safely off the ride and are being cared for."
Visitors to Alton Towers reported on social media that the ride had broken down earlier in the day on Tuesday.
One, Kirsty Wild, said:
Lucy Farrugia said:
Danny Simm, a musician and songwriter who is also a radio presenter on 96.5 Bolton FM, who witnessed the aftermath of the accident, said that a number of people appeared to be badly injured.
West Midlands Ambulance staff involved in the rescue operations at Alton Towers speak about the Smiler crash in which four people were seriously injured.
Following the incident, Alton Towers' owner Merlin Entertainments was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 after the crash, with its shares down three per cent.
The £18 million ride, opened in May 2013, has been closed down twice before because of technical issues.
It is billed as the world's first 14-loop rollercoaster and holds the official Guiness World Record for most loops, according to the Alton Towers website.
The resort claims that it features "a series of twisted psychological effects including optical illusions, blinding lights and near-misses designed to mess with your mind".
In July 2013 the Smiler was closed after reports that a bolt was seen to have fallen from the ride.
And in November that year the rollercoaster was closed after plastic guard wheels came loose and hit front row riders.
