Electrical fault blamed for girl's death on roller-coaster

A wiring error caused an accident on a roller-coaster in which a student died, an engineer told an inquest yesterday.

A wiring error caused an accident on a roller-coaster in which a student died, an engineer told an inquest yesterday.

Gemma Savage, 20, from Wath upon Dearne, South Yorkshire, died when two carriages collided on the Treetop Twister ride at Lightwater Valley, North Yorkshire, in June 2001. John Madden, the Health and Safety Executive's amusement ride engineering expert, told an inquest jury that the carriages collided partly because of a wiring error on the ride which had only been opened a month earlier.

One of her friends from Durham University told the jury at Skipton magistrates' court that he was sitting next to Ms Savage when the accident happened. Joseph Shimmin said: "I thought she might have been knocked out. Her head was drooping, she had a small amount of blood on her top." The inquest continues.