Young boy dies on Epcot attraction
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
I hadn't planned to post about this but I see I'm getting a lot of hits on searches for the story, mainly because people are mistakenly including Disneyland in their search queries. But Epcot, dear friends, is at Walt Disney World. In Florida, not California.
On, then, to the story.
CNN.com: Boy, 4, dies after riding Epcot attraction
Autopsy showed no trauma, more tests planned
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP)—A 4-year-old boy died after a spin on a Walt Disney World spaceship ride so intense that it has motion sickness bags and several riders have been treated for chest pain.
Daudi Bamuwamye lost consciousness Monday aboard "Mission: Space," which spins riders in a giant centrifuge that subjects them to twice the normal force of gravity. The boy's mother carried him off the ride, and paramedics and a theme park worker tried to revive him, but he died at a hospital.
An autopsy Tuesday showed no trauma so further tests will be conducted and a cause of death may not be known for several weeks, said Sheri Blanton, a spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner's Office in Orlando.
The sheriff's office said the boy met the minimum 44-inch height requirement for the ride.
The $100 million ride, one of Disney World's most popular, was closed after the death but reopened Tuesday after company engineers concluded that it was operating normally.
Disney officials said in a statement that they were "providing support to the family and are doing everything we can to help them during this difficult time." No changes were made to the ride or in who is permitted to ride it.
"We believe the ride is safe in its current configuration," Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Polak said.
More than 8.6 million visitors have gone on "Mission: Space" since 2003, Polak said.
All posts about injuries or deaths in Disney theme parks (most recent listed first):
- Another death at a Disney park (08/05/05)
- Roller coaster accident at Disney's theme park injures 15 (07/30/05)
- Young boy dies on Epcot attraction (06/14/05)
- Disney float knocks woman unconscious (12/29/04)
- Disney worker killed by parade float (02/11/04)
- Disneyland probes roller-coaster accident (09/07/03)
- Disneyland roller-coaster accident kills one, injures 10 (09/05/03)