1 dead, 15 hurt in Kolkata amusement park mishap

An accident at water ride of the NICCO Park at Salt Lake Tuesday afternoon left a child dead when a portion of the body-slide collapsed. At least 15 severely injured children have been admitted to local hospitals, police informed. The South Bidhan Nagar police have started quizzing the staff of the Park.

NICCO Park, opened in 1991, is the Eastern India's first Theme Amusement Park venture of Nicco Parks and Resorts Limited (NPRL), a joint venture with Rs 500 crore Nicco Corporation, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Limited (WBTDC). Set up on 40 acres with technical advice from Blackpool Leisure and Amusement Consultancy Ltd., UK, has obtained OSHAS-18000 for safety management first time in Asia.

Relatives of the children alleged that the lower part of the Body-Slide, through which the air-filled tubes slip with children, collapsed failing to bear extra pressure due to excessive rush. Allegedly, the staffs allowed more children than prescribed norms per tube. Even after the accident occurred, they unnecessary delayed to call ambulance and start rescue operation.

The angry guardians, supported by local youths, ransacked the Park office and damaged several furnitures. Thousands of people started demonstrating against the staff in front of the Park. Police had to deploy extra force to control the situation and took custody of the staff on duty to ascertain the cause of accident. Police also received serious complaints on ill-maintenance of the Park, which attracts thousands of revelers everyday, from local people as well as guardians.

Few years back, collapse of a ropeway in Darjeeling left few joy-riders dead. Only after the incident some structures were imposed on such joy-ride centres, but hardly there was any watch on whether those are being followed. NICCO Park’s incident again brought the issue back on public domain. In case of Darjeeling Ropeway, one innocent staff was arrested for months and finally released as he was not at all responsible for the accident. None was penalized.