Thrill Ride: 24 Rescued From Roller Coaster

I wouldn’t exactly call myself a thrill seeker. At least not anymore. There was a time in my life that I went bridge jumping and cliff climbing, but the most adventurous thing I do anymore is ride roller coasters. But now I’m starting to question the sanity of that.

After being stuck for more than five hours, 24 people were rescued from the top of a roller coaster at a Six Flags theme park in Maryland yesterday. Prince George's County Fire Chief Marc Bashoor reported via Twitter that, "All 24 patrons on the ground being evaluated by EMS."

Firefighters were called to the park around 2:30pm, but it wasn’t until 7pm that the last rider was safely on the ground. The thriller seekers were stuck on the roller coaster known as the Joker's Jinx sitting upright about 45 feet off the ground near the top of the ride. Because the coaster is so high, the rescue took more than four hours. Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the ride to malfunction. Part of the reason the rescue took so long was that each rider had to be harnessed before the restraints were released.

This is the second time this summer that riders have been stranded on a coaster at a Six Flags park. In July, 22 people were stuck for nearly three hours on the Ninja roller coaster at Magic Mountain in Valencia, California after it hit a tree.