News
The article is more than 16 years old

Finnish Amusement Park Rides Said to Be Safe

Raimo Hietala, technical director at Helsinki's Linnanmäki amusement park, is confident that rides at Finnish amusement parks are safe. Hietala notes that rides at Finnish parks are subject to daily maintenance in the summer.

A new ride at Linnanmäki, "Kirnu", or "Churn", was taken out of use on Wednesday after one rider was slightly injured. The technical fault has been fixed, and on Saturday, a police radar was used to check the device's maximum speed.

Concerns about carnival ride safety were raised after a fire broke out on a ride at a fun fair in the Estonian city of Rakvere on Friday night, injuring 25 people.

The ride that caught fire in Rakvere is similar to the Enterprise ride now in use at the Tykkimäki amusement park in Kouvola in the southeast of Finland. The ride had served at Linnanmäki from 1975 to 1999, after which it was moved to Kouvola.

The Enterprise had already undergone its daily maintenance when news came about the fire in Estonia.

Sources: YLE