New accident at DLP Big Thunder Mountain

It's the second time this year that DLP Big Thunder Mountain have an accident and, although it could have ended in a more dramatic way, nobody seems to be seriously hurt in yesterday's accident. The park statement say that nobody was hurt but other sources are saying that two people were slightly hurt - a 8 year old girl had pain in a knee and one adult said that he had some pain in his back. In addition, one young child left badly shocked in the accident which saw 31 people evacuated and the attraction closed for checks.

So, what happened this time? Apparently two front wagons of the train came off the tracks - the wheels literally derailed - in what is known as "zone 5" - see the orange circle on the picture below. The "zone 5" is this part of the track which is just before the last lift where happened some months ago the first accident which was much more serious. Fortunately the train was going at a relatively slow pace on a flat section of the track as, depending which part of the zone 5 it happened, the train could have fall in the Rivers of the Far-West which, thanks god, didn't happen.



As you probably remember, in the first accident last April a 38-year-old man was seriously hurt when he was hit in the head by a block of wood and glass fibre that fell off the mountain structure. Four other people were also hurt in the incident. Yesterday's accident, fortunately, was not as tragic but of course the attraction was closed immediately, police arrived on site and a new enquiry will begin.

No need to say that the ride will remain closed for the next days and probably weeks - and will NOT be open during the upcoming Halloween Party. This is not good news for Halloween guests as two rides only - Phantom Manor and the river boats will be open in Frontierland, which might be not enough for the thousands of guests who will join the big Halloween party at DLP.

Once again DLP fans began to talk again about the poor maintenance of the park but personally i prefer to wait for the end of the enquiry as this new accident might have happen because of an element of the track, eventually hard to see even for DLP maintenance.

Pictures: copyright Disney or Agence Altitude - Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Serious accident at DLP Big Thunder Mountain - Five guests injured, one seriously hurt - [ Updated 4/26 ]

A serious accident happened today at Disneyland Paris Big Thunder Mountain. Five guests were injured, including one seriously, when one of the fiber glass rocks which moves during the lift C fell down, hitting the guests in the train.

UPDATED 4/26: According to DLP the faux rock in fact didn't fell directly on the guests. Instead, the rock fell on the track, was hit by BTM locomotive and flying pieces of the rock then hit the five guests aboard the train.

Last news are saying that a piece of fiber glass and wood fell at about 2:50 pm on one of the train wagon. A 38 years old man was seriously hit on his head and was evacuated by helicopter at the Beaujon hospital in the town of Clichy-sur-Seine. The man supposedly has a cranial traumatism which can be really serious.

UPDATED 4/25: A source close to the inquiry said that it was too soon to say if the man will recover but on the other hand a DLP spokeswoman just announced that the man is apparently "out of danger". She also said that Disneyland Paris was taking care of his relatives.

Four others people were slightly hurt and been looked after on location, in the park. Apparenly they were released back in the park after, which would mean they are not too badly hurt. Of course Big Thunder Mountain was closed immediately and will very probably remain closed tomorrow if not the next days while police and park can conduct an inquiry and determine that the ride is safe.

UPDATED 4/26: Considering that BTM was supposed to close for a big refurbishment on May 9 until May 27 chances are that the attraction will not re-open before May 9. Also, please don't attack DLP in your comments about the park's maintenance. I can assure you that DLP is trying to do the best maintenance that they can on the parks, and one of my last update let you know about DLP big refurbishment program which already began. Right now we don't know exactly the reason of the accident and may be the inquiry will determine that it came from a maintenance problem, or may be not. Until then we must give to DLP management the benefit of the doubt as no one knows exactly the reason of the accident. To understand better how the management of DLP is complex, please read my latest article HERE.

UPDATED 4/26: According to a DLP Cast member working at the Silver Spur Steakhouse restaurant "the emergency team reacted extremely quickly. In less than five minutes Frontierland backstage was full of emergency doctors, firemen, police men, etc... and we can say that the emergency teams did a great job" Always according to him who saw everything in Frontierland backstage "the crania traumatism of the guest seriously injured was not a small one". He also heard - before the accident happened - "a guest eating at the restaurant asking if it was normal that a BTM rock in the last lift was not moving as it usually does" which means that some guests apparently noticed that something was going wrong before the accident happened.

For those of you who don't know what is the "lift C" it is the last lift, the one in which you have false rocks moving and the gold mine appearing as it is shown on the WDI rendering below. Of course, as we know, the rocks don't really fall, they're just moving. Except that today one of the rocks really fell down, unfortunately this occured when the train with 25 guests aboard was inside the tunnel.



I will have more news about this dramatic accident tomorrow, and my french readers will find below a short news in french from Le Parisien web site. I've also posted today my regular DLP update and you will find it below or HERE. And below a video (in french) from a french news TV channel with a DLP rep explaining what happened.




"Un élément de décor du Train de la mine de Disneyland Paris s’est décroché lundi après-midi, vers 15 heures, au passage des wagons. «Cela s’est produit vers la fin du parcours de l'attraction, avant le tunnel final», indique une responsable de la communication de la société Eurodisney, confirmant l’information.
L’attraction à sensations, appelée aussi Big Thunder Mountain, est située dans la partie Adventure land du parc principal, à Marne-la-Vallée (Seine-et-Marne).

«Le rocher est tombé sur un wagonnet du petit train qui transportait au total 25 touristes. Il s’agit d’un rocher artificiel fabriqué en résine. Cinq adultes ont été blessés dont un grièvement. Victime d’un traumatisme crânien, cet homme, un Français de 40 ans, a été admis aux urgences de l’hôpital Beaujon, à Clichy-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine). La direction du parc a annoncé que sa famille était prise en charge et hébergée par Eurodisney le temps qu’il restera hospitalisé.

L’attraction est fermée jusqu’à nouvel ordre. Le commissariat de police de Chessy est chargé de l’enquête".

Pictures: copyright Disney