Fatal merry-go-round accident at Luna Park in Cap d’Agde: profile of the young victims, circumstances… what we know about the tragedy

The horror in the middle of the carnival. The witnesses of this terrible accident which occurred within the famous Luna Park located on the Ile des loisirs of Cap d’Agde, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, are still in shock: one of the key attractions of the place was the theater of a terrible accident that claimed the life of a 17-year-old boy and seriously injured a 19-year-old woman.

We take stock of this drama.

Circumstances

While the celebrations were still in full swing on the Ile des loisirs in Cap d’Agde, a hotspot for summer parties in the Hérault, closing time was approaching for the local Luna Park.

But around 1:30 a.m., on the impressive Adrenaline attraction – a kind of giant swing where two people sit lying on a basket before being carried to a height of 60 meters then released into the void held by two rubber bands -, a terrible accident is remembered.

According to our information, while the wind was still blowing around 80 km / h in the night from Saturday to Sunday, a large gust threw the nacelle, where two young customers were, against one of the two posts of the structure.

The victims

Despite the rapid intervention of the emergency services at the scene of the tragedy, the results were immediately catastrophic: one of the two people in the basket, a 17-year-old teenager, whose head visibly hit one of the poles of L’ Adrenaline, could not be revived. The young woman who accompanied him, aged 19, was seriously injured and rushed to hospital.

According to our information, the two victims are from Agde.

Precedents

While the carousel where the drama took place was closed and placed under judicial seal – a technical expertise will be carried out under the authority of the public prosecutor of Béziers -, it is not the first that Adrenaline is in the middle of an accident.

Indeed, in August 2019, a 50-year-old was injured on this same attraction and in this same Luna Park in Cap d’Agde: after the controlled fall at more than 110 km / h, the nacelle suddenly blocked a few meters of the ground. Managing so badly to get out, the victim then fell violently, his head hitting the asphalt. He had to be hospitalized for several stitches.

More seriously, in 2017 at the Foir du Trône in Paris, a carousel of the same type and also called Adrénaline had experienced an impressive incident: at full speed, when descending, a passenger in the nacelle was suddenly detached. Only restrained by the feet and head down, the latter had made several round trips, brushing the ground and death. The carousel was then closed and dismantled, explained 20 Minutes .