Riders had the fright of their lives as they were afraid they may fall out of an Alton Towers rollercoaster today after being left hanging 65ft high in the air for about half an hour when it suddenly came to a halt in front of busy Bank Holiday crowds.
A total of 28 people were left hanging face-down on the Air Galactica ride when it grounded to a sudden halt in ' torrential' rain at the top of the first loop of the track at around 2pm.
One rider narrated how he was really afraid that his seatbelt would 'release' and he would come falling to the ground below as he dangled in mid-air, while another rider said it would've been 'game over' if the harness gave way.
Others told how distressed passengers were 'screaming and crying' during the incident which occurred when the ride broke down after being besieged by floodwater from the heavy downpour.
A lot of disturbing pictures show the riders hanging helplessly in mid-air from the rollercoaster carriage as the workers at Staffordshire park rushed to help, comfort and also calm them down.
Other photographs show the queuing area for the ride filled with inch-deep floodwater. Some visitors believe the heavy rain may have caused the ride's electrics to trip, stopping it suddenly.
After 30minutes, workers managed to re-start the rollercoaster and safely returned the riders to the ground. Officials at the park told visitors the ride had been 'flooded' and it was temporarily shut.
Thomas Symons, 20, of Andover, who was riding Air Galactica with girlfriend Rebekah Sheppard when it broke, said he feared they could 'fall out' of the virtual reality ride - which opened in March.
He said 'I was the first in our row to realise something was wrong, took the VR goggles off and told the others to do the same as they still thought we were moving.
'They started freaking out, it was freezing and wet up there and I was more scared that the seatbelt would release and we'd fall out as we were suspended horizontally.'
He added: 'It was just a technical fault due to the weather but it left us stranded at the top in the rain for 30 minutes until a technician arrived.
'It was dealt with by the staff well and they reimbursed our tickets and gave us a couple of fast tracks tickets.'
His partner, Miss Sheppard, added: 'The lift that pulls it up stopped because of the rain. We were there for 30 minutes while people were sorting it out.
'The weather was terrible but afterwards we got a free drink, free tickets for this year and fast tracks for rides.'
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