My friend was telling me yesterday about a tragic incident in an amusement park in Aley and then I saw the report at night on MTV. A young kid has apparently died after falling off the roller coaster, while his cousin got some serious injuries. According to the amusement park management, the kid was asked to sit down twice which he didn’t do but that’s utter nonsense. The person who was managing that ride should have stopped it immediately if he thought someone is violating basic safety rules and regulations. Something doesn’t add up here and a thorough investigations needs to be performed.
The worst part is that both the municipality and the Ministry of Tourism denied any responsibility and stated that it’s not their job to perform safety inspections. If that’s the case then who is making sure amusement parks are safe in Lebanon?
To be honest, I never really felt safe in any of Lebanon’s amusement parks and I always wondered if there are security checks being performed as safety should be the #1 priority in any amusement park. Of course accidents are bound to happen and injuries may occur when guests don’t follow safety guidelines but there are many ways to ensure guests, especially young children, are kept safe.
There aren’t that many amusement parks in Lebanon and most of them are really old so I hope that this tragic accident will push the authorities to properly inspect them and make sure they are abiding by the rules and regulations (if there are any).
Sincere condolences to the family.
[YouTube]
I agree 100% with what you wrote; my kids keep nagging but I also don’t trust the safety measures in all of these parks. Strict safety measures in all kids related parks and play areas are as important as clean food, good medical system, and safe daycares.
In response to how safe are amusement parks in Lebanon; I d like to point everyone’s attention on the fact that most machines that are purchased are those old left overs ‘ giveaways ‘ from God knows which park/circus abroad. Hello quality & safety control in Lebanon. I d also like to share my own experience in a simple Park in Beirut. I.e. not amusement ; no machines. YUPI PARk near beirut city center. When they opened about 10 yrs ago. I found it to be the cleanest , greenest , in addition to having a top qlty German brand of swings and other. Today those same swings and set of wooden climbing items have not been maintained. That I found out after my daughter s slight injury was caused by unchanged ropes that no longer have a thick protective layer but instead are left with the iron / metallic wires. Normally When kids walk on this net like rope they are bound to fall on it without getting injured , but with the bad state they are in now not to mention the general state of the whole park ; accidents are prone to happen. As for the cleanliness it is clean except for the unfortunate trend of having ‘Nargulieh’ / smoking in a children ‘s park allowed.