Puyallup Fair ride accident injures 12 children

Five children and an adult were taken to area hospitals for treatment after a children's amusement ride at the Puyallup Fairgrounds toppled over this evening.

Eight others, mostly children, suffered cuts and bruises.

The ride, called the Lolly Swing, in the fairground's Kiddyland area, toppled on its side about 6:40 p.m.

Bridget Haney, 10, of West Seattle, was on the ride with her three friends when it fell.

"We were just going around and about the third time my swing hit the middle and it toppled over," she said. "I looked down and I saw all these kids and a little smoke. I was shocked."

Bridget's swing was opposite the side of the ride that hit the ground, and she was able to get out of her dangling swing and drop into the arms of witnesses and fair workers, she said.

"Luckily my daughter and her friends were up high," said her mother, Cheryl Woodard.

Bridget said she banged up her arm, and a friend had a bump on the head, but they didn't need medical treatment. "I put some ice on it," she said.

The most seriously injured were the people who hit the ground when the ride fell over. "I saw this one kid and his mouth was bleeding. But that's about all I saw and I got out of there as quick as I could," Bridget said.

Good Samaritan Hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Aalgaard confirmed that two people were being evaluated Friday night in the emergency room. She declined to disclose any details or nature of their injuries. Four others were taken Mary Bridge Childrens Hospital in Tacoma.

The fairgrounds was open for the Puyallup Spring Fair, scheduled Thursday through Sunday. Rides in that area were closed immediately after the mishap, fair spokeswoman Karen LaFlamme said. She said the fair remained open.

The Lolly Swing has been a fixture at the fair's Kiddyland area the past five years. The ride has swing-type seats that rotate around a central pillar.

LaFlamme said one of those taken to the hospital had a possible leg injury.

According to fairgrounds spokesmen, the rides at the fair undergo a variety of safety checks and are inspected by the state annually.

State L& I had checked the Lolly Swing on Wednesday LaFlamme said.

A state Department of Labor and Industries spokeswoman said the ride would be shut down until L&I can investigate the mishap.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the accident. Officials were looking at the possibility that soggy ground under the ride may have simply given way. Officials said the ride was inspected on Wednesday.