AN INVESTIGATION IS underway into the collapse of a staircase at the Tayto Park House of Horrors event, which led to the hospitalisation of nine people.
The incident occurred on Saturday night at approximately 8pm. The park is located in Ashbourne, Co Meath.
A statement from Tayto said that its emergency plan was immediately put into place after the incident occurred.
It’s understood all of those who were hospitalised have since been released.
Witnesses have been speaking about what happened on the night. Rian O’Kelly (25) from Dublin, told BBC Radio Ulster that she had just stepped off the staircase when it collapsed.
She brought her sister and two of her sister’s friends to the event. They queued for an hour to get into the House of Horrors, and she said the queue reached up two flights of stairs.
We had just stepped on to kind of like a landing and there is another flight of stairs going up. And basically we heard this big creaking noise and we thought it was part of the show, like it was trying to be scary, but next of all the people behind us suddenly dropped and the whole staircase collapsed.
And then obviously everyone got really afraid and everyone started crying and screaming and running because we thought we were going to drop as well.
She described the situation as “surreal”. “It was like they vanished,” she said of the people who were on the part of the staircase that dropped.
“I was also so frightened, my knees were totally shaking. All of the younger children and adults were screaming and crying it was very scary and it was ironic that we were supposed to be going into the House of Horrors.”
Tayto Park said in a statement that at approximately 8pm the lower portion of a permanent staircase leading to The House of Horrors gave way.
The Tayto Park emergency plan was immediately put in place and the emergency services attended the scene. Nine people were transported to hospitals in the city as a precautionary measure to assess their injuries.
The management of Tayto Park will co-operate fully with the investigation as the safety of our guests is paramount.
Tayto Park reopened as normal yesterday.
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