Carnival ride on which deadly accident happened was loaner
The company that operates a ride from which a 16-year-old girl was thrown on Friday has responded to the deadly accident.
“Playtime Amusements, Inc. deeply regrets the terrible accident occurring on April 29, 2016 at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church carnival,” the statement read. “There are many questions to be answered about why the accident occurred and we will do everything possible to help resolve those questions.”
Friday evening, 16-year-old Samantha Aguilar and two girls were riding on the “Sizzler,” a spinning carnival ride when she and another girl were ejected. Aguilar hit her head on a metal barrier and died. The other girl suffered minor injuries.
The carnival was set up by St. Thomas Aquinas parish to celebrate “Dia de los Nios,” a Mexican holiday celebrating children.
Playtime Amusements is based in Las Cruces and, according to their Facebook page, sets up carnivals all over southern New Mexico, from Alamogordo to Deming, to Las Cruces and also El Paso. It was established in 2007 and this is the first incident or accident in Texas or New Mexico, the company reported.
The ride “had all the necessary permits to be operating as an amusement ride,” the statement read.
According to the company, the Sizzler ride on which the accident happened is owned by Moore’s Greater Shows, a company from Lyford, Texas, near Harlingen. The two companies had swapped Sizzler rides — Playtime’s being bigger than Moore’s. Moore’s set up and tested the ride on Thursday, one day before the accident. The ride was operating properly then, Playtime Amusements said.
Moore’s Greater Shows has operated carnivals for 75 years, according to the company’s website. It touts some of the highest standards of amusement ride safety.
“We have a comprehensive ride inspection program, where all amusement rides are inspected by safety supervisors and ride superintendents using a daily inspection checklist. This is done prior to opening and throughout the day. The daily inspection checklist is not a universal checklist. Moore’s Greater Shows has an extensive checklist that is tailored to each amusement ride. Also, all amusement ride employees go through an extensive training program certifying them to operator each individual amusement ride,” the website states.
ABC-7 reviewed the Texas Department of Insurance’s Amusement Ride Injury Report and neither Playtime Amusements Inc. nor Moore’s Greater Shows appear on the report from August 2011 to March 2016.
The El Paso Police department is investigating the accident.
