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Teen dies after falling from 400-foot drop tower ride at Orlando amusement park
Image source: YouTube screenshot

Teen dies after falling from 400-foot drop tower ride at Orlando amusement park

A 14-year-old boy has died after falling from a massive drop tower ride at ICON Park in Orlando, Florida, WESH-TV reported Friday morning.

What are the details?

The teen, who remains unnamed at the time of this reporting, was riding the Orlando Free Fall when he fell to his death late Thursday night.

Though first responders immediately rushed to the scene, the teen died at a local hospital as a result of the accident.

The ride, which opened in December, boasts being the tallest free-standing drop tower at 430 feet.

It is unclear at this time how the boy fell from the ride, and an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

What else?

John Stine, director of sales for the Slingshot Group — which owns the Orlando Free Fall — told the Orlando Sentinel that the ride has been indefinitely closed.

“We are devastated that this happened, and our hearts go out the family,” Stine said. “We are cooperating with all other investigations at this time to get to the bottom of what happened.”

Ritchie Armstrong, CEO of the Slingshot Group, described the ride to the outlet in January.

"Thirty riders sit in the ride as it rises to the top, rotates around the tower, then tilts at 30 degrees to face the ground before a brief moment of free falling," the outlet reported.

Armstrong at the time added, “It falls down free, detached from the tower, reaching speeds of up to 75 miles per hour before this beautiful magnetic braking system gives them a nice, smooth, slow stop, straight back down to the ground.”

Anything else to know here?

This is the second death in as many years at the Orlando park.

In 2020, a park employee tragically died after a fall while working on the amusement park's StarFlyer ride.

Jacob Kaminsky, a 21-year-old employee, fell to his death from 50-60 feet while inspecting the ride.

No others were hurt in the 2020 accident.

Florida teenager dies after falling from ride at Orlando's ICON Parkwww.youtube.com

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