22 thrill-seekers trapped for 2 hours as Knott's Berry Farm's Sol Spin ride malfunctions
Visitors to a Southern California amusement park got a longer ride on an attraction than they anticipated Monday.
Nearly two dozen people were stuck on a ride for more than two hours at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California.
The Sol Spin ride malfunctioned at approximately 2 p.m., causing the ride to stop and trapping 22 riders mid-air, the park said in a statement to Paste BN on Monday. The riders were rescued by 4:30 p.m. with two women were taken to the hospital out an abundance of caution, according to the park.
Video taken by local television stations shows riders suspended in the ride's floorless coaster-like seats while waiting to be rescued.
Malfunctioning ride given highest thrill rating
The Sol Spin ride opened in 2017 and was manufactured by Netherlands-based Mondial Rides, according to the Orange County Register.
The ride is listed at the park's highest "thrill level" on the Knott's Berry Farm website.
"This thrilling ride is one for the brave!" the website says. "Sol Spin sends guests on a thrilling adventure over 6 stories high as they rotate in all directions on one of six spinning arms. Each arm rotates 360 degrees independent of one another providing a different experience every ride.
"Riders on the freely rotating, floorless gondolas gain a real sense of being airborne while suspended and flipping above the ground," the amusement park says.
Sol Spin replaced a different Mondial Rides attraction, Windseeker, according to The Register. Windseeker saw multiple malfunctions across the country in 2012 that stranded riders hundreds of feet in the air, according to Los Angeles NBC affiliate KNBC.