Theme park thrill seeker: "My near brush with Alton Towers disaster"

Shane Bridges and his partner Becky Ford were walking to the Smiler ride at the Staffordshire theme park just before 2pm on Tuesday when they heard a large bang.

Moments later they were ushered away from the area amid rumours that “people had been injured” and there was “blood everywhere”.

Hours later officials confirmed that one of the ride’s carriages had collided with another and four people had suffered serious injuries — some of them life-threatening.

Some of the 16 people who had been travelling on the thrill ride at the time of the incident were left stranded for up to four hours.

Shane (22), of Rawmarsh, said: “It was obvious that something really serious had happened but short of keeping people away from the Smiler nothing really happened.

“The park didn’t close and the other rides kept on running.

“It was like we were expected to carry on as normal.”

Shane said he and Becky felt that the park should have been closed immediately following the 2pm incident.

He also revealed that Becky had been at the park two years earlier when the Smiler ride involved in the incident was closed due to a technical fault.

“I understand there have been lots of problems with the ride,” he added.

Two teenage passengers from Barnsley were among those who suffered severe leg injuries during Tuesday’s collision.

Alton Towers was closed on Wednesday and yesterday.

No announcement had been made as to when it might open as the Advertiser went to press.

Nick Varney, chief executive of Alton Towers’ owners Merlin Entertainments, apologised to those injured and thanked emergency services.

He said an investigation was underway.