24 Evacuated from Disney California Adventure Roller Coaster

A few visitors spending time at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim got a little more than they bargained for when they decided to ride the California Screamin’ roller coaster because an unexpected stop required an emergency evacuation of twenty-four people.

Around 6:30PM on Friday, someone dropped a backpack on the tracks of the coaster, and the ride automatically shut down to prevent a derailment. The backpack reportedly fell out of the car while at the top of a loop, forcing the ride to stop at the bottom of the loop. According to Anaheim Fire Marshal Jeff Lutz, the section of tracks where the roller coaster cars stopped was about twenty feet off the ground.

The twenty-four riders were evacuated within about thirty minutes and the California Screamin’ ride was shut down for the rest of day. No injuries were reported.

California Screamin’, located in the Paradise Pier section of Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort, made its debut in 2001 and is approximately 1 1/8 miles long, making it the second longest roller coaster in the U.S., and the sixth longest in the world.

Source: MSNBC