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Woman dies after falling out of roller coaster in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
A 21-year-old Lafayette, Louisiana, woman has died after an accident at Dixie Landin' amusement park in Baton Rouge.
Witnesses said Lindsay Zeno fell about 30 feet from the Xtreme roller coaster at the park late Sunday afternoon.
State fire officials, who are charged with regulating the park, have said that there were no obvious mechanical failures on the ride. The ride passed its last state inspection, about a month ago.
State fire marshalls and the local sheriff's office are continuing the accident investigation this morning.
Tadbatha Arnold, who says she witnessed the accident, told WAFB that the chest restraint on the ride was up and she saw Zeno trying to pull it down before Zeno fell from the coaster.
Xtreme is a steel roller coaster that was built in 2000. It was moved to Dixie Landin' in 2007 from a theme park in the Netherlands. The coaster has a top speed of 37 miles per hour.
Witnesses said Lindsay Zeno fell about 30 feet from the Xtreme roller coaster at the park late Sunday afternoon.State fire officials, who are charged with regulating the park, have said that there were no obvious mechanical failures on the ride. The ride passed its last state inspection, about a month ago.
State fire marshalls and the local sheriff's office are continuing the accident investigation this morning.
Tadbatha Arnold, who says she witnessed the accident, told WAFB that the chest restraint on the ride was up and she saw Zeno trying to pull it down before Zeno fell from the coaster.
Xtreme is a steel roller coaster that was built in 2000. It was moved to Dixie Landin' in 2007 from a theme park in the Netherlands. The coaster has a top speed of 37 miles per hour.
Filed under: North America, United States, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Matt Jul 12th 2010 6:20PM
A woman died, you jerk.
Hailey Jul 12th 2010 6:13PM
This is something that is quite scary to read. I have road this ride before; the ride is fun but it has many hard turns and jerks. To picture the strap that is her only safty, being released and her falling onto the ground is a terrible picture in my mind. They should remove this ride from the park. Over weight people should be able to go to an amusement park to have a good time without having to worry about your life being taken. REST IN PEACE, Lindsay Zeno.
Buffmuffin Jul 13th 2010 1:04AM
Ah.
Aren't overweight people supposed to avoid heart exertion? Maybe we should make all the roller coasters flat and level in a big 1 mile circle so no one gets too excited and dies of a heart attack as well... After all, children as young as 12 are dying of heart attacks on these horrible things...
You are probably correct though...
It's just not fair to everyone that some people are able to do things others aren't...
I mean lets face it. 230,000 people per year die in auto accidents in the USA alone. You are 40,000 times as likely to die in an automobile as you are on a roller coaster...
It is clearly too an unsafe endeavor to continue to allow people to engage in.
These 'automobiles' should be banned from the road until we can find seat belts or airbags capable of restraining the impacts of 345 pound people.
No reason to allow the rest of us to continue on this self-defeating path until we can all safely do so in equality and glorious splendor, right?
Or you could just accept the fact that some people are different than what is considered 'normal', and that abnormal people should regulate themselves when engaging in normal human endeavors...
But that would make too much sense and be too easy, right?
Much better to pass laws stupefying us all to the abstract modicum of behavior to make us all equally fat/stupid/retarded under the law; than to create a separate class of supremely educated humans that performed better than the social norm?
Yeah, you're right... Much better to have 30 million idiots than an educated leader... God help us if someone were to see things clearly in an abstract haze of equality.
Anna Jul 12th 2010 7:57PM
You have to be one of the stupidest people in the world!!! Have you ever seen anyone "hold" a ride closed?? No, because that does not happen, the attendants come by to check the rides safety harnesses, before the ride takes off, DUHHHH!!! Second, No matter what her size was, she has lost her life, there is nothing funny about that. You say lose weight, and join the rest of us in normalcy?? WTF Are u so stupid that you dont know that the majority of the population is overweight?? I guess you, and everyone you EVER knew were skinny, or small?? No family members, perhaps your mom, is not FAT?? If so maybe they will suffer the same fate that this beautiful young lady suffered, then we will see if you still think it so funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Buffmuffin Jul 12th 2010 8:08PM
Joke is on you, Anna. I'm from BR, am familiar with the investigation, and the investigation is currently focusing on just that set of events, 3 inspections of the ride show it to be, for lack of a better word, flawless...
It is in perfect operating condition. There is NO malfunction... The City-Parish inspection, the State Police inspection and the manufacturer inspection have found NOTHING wrong with the ride.
There was no one next to her on the ride for a reason, the ride was full other than the seat next to her... They couldn't FIT anyone next to her.
She was too big, and apparently held the bar down deceptively when the attendant checked it, they have VIDEO of the attendant checking it, and after the fact found, *surprise*, she wasn't strong enough to hold it closed.
Give it a few of days for the investigation to be finalized, and it will be reported.
You can apologize then, k? Thanks...
TL Jul 12th 2010 11:42PM
hmm, really? I think we now all know a little about you. At the very least, we know you are an idiot.
buffmuffin Jul 12th 2010 10:53PM
144 IQ.. what's yours, TL?
That's ok, not everyone has the right to be opinionated.
/pats TL on the head like a good little boy.
TL Jul 12th 2010 11:49PM
Nobody asked, nobody cares what your IQ is. This little girl still knows you are an idiot. A self righteous, callous idiot. One thing I do agree with you about -- you don't have the right to be opinionated. So pat that on the head, Buffmoron.
bowhunter Jul 13th 2010 12:27AM
The root of your argument is good Buff... delivery was a little off though. You definitely hit a nerve - I think I would have withheld the "normalcy" and beached whale comments. 36.6% of Americans are overweight and 26.5% are obese according to the latest Gallop pole. That's ridiculous in and of itself... and I think you're right- she was dumb to get on the ride and pretend the locking mechanism was secure, if that is what is revealed in the investigation. Here's the hard truth, if that is what happened: it's sad for family and friends of hers, but it's survival of the fittest here.
I am sorry for her family and friends.
Buff- the gmail.com comment was pretty hilarious.
marisa Jul 13th 2010 12:42PM
Hey for you're information I worked at the theme park and i know that not all the ride operators do their job and check the seats so it might not be her weight it might have been the operator not doing their job. Unless you were there sitting right beside her and know for a fact that her weight was the cause then shut up and be respectful. That was someone's family member, how would you like it one of your relatives died like that and some cruel asshole made a horrible remark towards them? you would hate it. And I'm sure by your online name that you're one stuck up, snobbish person who doesn't have any respect!
marisa Jul 13th 2010 12:41PM
Ok Buffmuffin if the lady was supposedly "too fat" ,which is a very unkind thing to say, the ride operator shouldn't of allowed her on the ride bc being a former employee of the place i know the rides have a weight limit. And my boyfriend is about 300 pounds and he's not fat. You just have a cold heart if any heart at all. I hope one day you know the pain that her poor family is feeling. You are a disrepectful moron! And you deserve to be punched in the face. Because people like you are just worthless. But it's ok Karma is a big bitch and every dog has it's day. Just wait for your's because when it comes i HOPE THAT THERE'S SOMEONE JUST LIKE YOU TO LAUGH AND BE AS HEARTLESS AS YOU ARE! AND YOURS WILL BE FAR WORSE!
I would like to take my mind off the heartless moron and say I know how its it lose a loved one. My 13 year cousin died in a car crash, My moms friend who was like a second mom to me died from a rare lung disease, my twin sister died at the age of 16 leaving behind her 3 kids (and Buffmuffin i dare you to say something), and my 3 year old sister died because she got a hold of my dad's drugs. so yes i know the pain as well as others. But my heart goes out to the family and her friends.
Buffmuffin Jul 13th 2010 2:32PM
"And my boyfriend is about 300 pounds and he's not fat"
Ok, so he is at least 7 foot tall then, and uses steriods. no problem.
"You just have a cold heart if any heart at all"
I have one, it averages about 98.6... Most do.
"I hope one day you know the pain that her poor family is feeling"
I've known worse, I'm sure.
"You are a disrepectful moron"
Respect is earned, not given, something given has no value.
"Just wait for your's"
We are all waiting for ours, and there is no apostrophe in yours, btw.
mistee1975 Jul 13th 2010 12:59PM
you are so stupid,,, you should have brought a ticket and been on that ride,,,You have a heart of steal, Go hide under a rock,,, you make people ashame,,,,,,My heart goes out to to her and her Family!!!!!
buffmuffin Jul 13th 2010 2:17PM
marisa, Doens't bother me in the least.
Mercedes&Kayla Jul 13th 2010 6:11PM
Are yall stupid? I know the guy that was working the ride and i know for a fact they check the restraints on the roller coasters. I have bought a season pass to this park for three years and I have never been on a ride and have not had someone make sure that my restraints are closed. And who doesnt check to make sure that they are secure even after the opperators check? I am not emplying that this was her fault, but if you think about it, it kind of was. We all know she had no intention of this happening, but whats done is done. Before you all start saying things you need to make sure your facts are right. First of all this ride does not have a chest restraint. you pull it towards you and it secures in your lap. Also there is another bar that you can hold on to. And they could have fit someone next to her on the ride because there is a little thing in the middle of the two seats that seperates the people from hitting eachother. this ride is a very rough ride and it jerks you around so they definately would have made sure she was properly restrained. The only thing that I can think of is that when she shut the bar she was sucking in and released once the ride started and the bar came undone under the pressure. The ride would not have started unless the restraints were shut. The two guys who were working this ride are very serious about there jobs and the safty of the pasengers on the ride. This is a sad story and it could have been prevented. if you are too big for a ride and you know that, then you should not ride it. This is just a reminder of that. Also the news is trying to say that she died in the hospital after being rushed from the scene. But the supervisor got the call that someone had fallen from the extreme and rushed over to the ride. He went to her and her head was on the concrete and he tried to support it. Apparently she was foaming from the mouth and screaming get me off of the ride, so apparently she had hit her head. The ambulance took a long time to get there and she died while he was holding her. This is the story that I got from the workers of the ride and many other employees of the park. We know a lot of them and they would not lie about something like this. again this is a very sad story, something you wouldnt think would happen..
blazzzed Jul 14th 2010 6:04PM
dang i am just sitting here in complete shock of how insensitive people are on here...i mean shit you don't have to know a person to to care about a life...no matter how big or small she is...damn....and please all this faith in these man made machines....all the reports of "it passed inspection last month" and "my friends work there" and "they take their jobs serious" SO!! i have to lol at that stupid shit....the Titanic was called "safe"...and i'm sure it passed inspection also....and i'm sure the crew on board took their jobs serious.... at look at what happened to that......man...my heart goes out to her....as well as her family.....i guess at the end of the day everyone has freedom of speech and can chose to say exactly what they feel....what comes out of someone's mouth tells everything about a person... so it is what it is on here....i love all people....big... skinny..white...black...smart...not so smart....why hate? that's what's wrong in the world now...what does it accomplish....anywho...one thing i can agree with or if anyone mentioned it on here is that i have been to alot of amusement parks and i have witenessed alot of overweight people try to "make" the harnesses and belts work...and i have also witenessed believe it or not for all my people that have faith in these workers who take their jobs seriously....the workers trying to push and push to also make it work...idk maybe people need more education on the seriosness of these roller coasters...that also goes for little kids that make it on these rides that does not meet height requirements...i guess that worker was not serious about his job when he lets them pass.....what if that child falls and is killed because of that....point is it does not necessarly have to be a weight issue it could be anything...believe it or not the ride could have been faulty...so i mean if you were not sitting there beside her then no one really knows what happened...not even the reporters so no matter what is printed does not make it true...one last thing if someone on here is saying something that you don't like or is insensitive...why fight with them and keep going back and forth with them...you are giving them what they want...obviously what you are saying back is not going to change them...so why add the stress in your life? just think about that...again my heart goes out to the young lady and her family