Two children have sustained minor injuries after an incident involving a rollercoaster at Landmark Adventure Park.
Police, fire and ambulance crews have been called to the theme park, near Carrbridge, after the “family friendly” Runaway Timber Train crashed.
Reports suggest the six-carriage train was fully loaded, with 24 people on board.
Visitors have described the terrifying moment a loud noise was heard around the park and it became clear something was wrong.
One man, who did not want to be named, said: “At 11.28am, we were in the park which was very full, queues for all the rides.
“I heard the rollercoaster rattling around, then there was a massive bang and most people were running away from it.
“I ran over and noticed that at the low point of the track, the last two carriages had derailed. They were hanging off to the right hand side.
@PressandJournal Landmark rollercoaster just derailed. No injuries. pic.twitter.com/euWqfy5KPx
— Spacedoot (@Spacedoot1) August 12, 2021
“All the carriages were full of people, staff were there and they started to lift people out.
“I spoke to a woman who was on the rollercoaster when it happened later on, and she said the initial crack came when they were at the top of the rollercoaster.”
He added: “All the families that were on it, even ten minutes ago they were being seen by ambulance staff in the reception, just to check them over and see if they were OK.”
He said tarpaulins have been added to the rollercoaster to hide the incident from view.
While initial reports suggested the rollercoaster derailed, police said this was not accurate.
Another visitor said she said she was approaching the front of the queue with her family when she heard a very loud noise.
She said: “The front three carriages are still on the track, but the fourth car back has left the rails and the back two are at an angle.
“The section of track is about the height of the firefighter standing beside it, but I have no idea how fast it would have been going at the time.
“There are a couple of paramedics on the scene at the moment.”
A police spokeswoman said: “Around 11.30 am this morning, Thursday, 12 August, 2021, police and emergency services were called to a report that a carriage from a rollercoaster at an adventure park in Carrbridge, Aviemore had suffered a mechanical failure.
“Two children sustained minor injury and were treated at the scene. Police are still at scene and enquiries are continuing.”
A spokeswoman for the fire service confirmed they were called to the incident at around 11.37am and sent three appliances along with a heavy rescue vehicle.
Landmark Adventure Park reopened on April 26 after the lifting of some coronavirus restrictions, with visitors allowed back on the rollercoaster and water slides from May 1.
It had previously closed in December last year due to “unprecedentedly low visitor numbers“.
More as we get it.