Accident at the Seville Feria: two youngsters from Malaga injured on the slingshot ride
The boys were released from hospital with cuts and bruises. Their families are considering legal action
Two youngsters from Malaga were injured on Friday evening when a cable broke on the slingshot ride at the Seville fair.
Carlos and Manuel, 17 and 11, were released from hospital on Saturday morning after being treated for cuts and bruises.
The boys have shared a passion for fairground rides since 2023. Both upload content to their social media, showing and trying out the most eye-catching rides at fairs around Andalucía.
They went to the April fair in Seville with Manuel's mother, María; "I asked if he could go on the ride at his age and they told me there was no problem," she told SUR.
The older boy told this newspaper that he had had a "bad feeling", but still ventured onto the ride. He said that he was not aware of the exact moment when the cable came down, despite the screams of witnesses.
"I was in shock. I couldn't think much, the only thing that was going through my mind was that the other [cable] wouldn't come loose too."
After hitting one of the pillars of the attraction and being suspended more than ten metres in the air, Carlos said that his friend asked him, scared, what had happened.
They lost track of time up there, but María said that it took the emergency services about 15 minutes to rescue them. After being attended to by the emergency services at the scene, they first evacuated Manuel, who had a split lip and a bruised leg, and then Carlos.
Ana, Carlos's mother, said that her son is bruised and has pain in his head, thigh and back. "It was 8.30pm when the phone rang and a nurse told me that my son had had an accident, that the strap of the attraction had come loose, but not to worry, that they were in pain but conscious."
On the front line
Maria, who was waiting for them at the exit, experienced and filmed the accident first-hand. "I'm fine because they are alive, but this has been a shock," she said. She also said she feels "indignant" at how they were treated by the staff of the Steel Maxx ride: "When it happened they said that these things were risky and they cleared off. They haven't even asked how the kids are."
On Saturday morning both were discharged from hospital and are now at home in Malaga, although they are still in shock. While their families are considering legal action against the company, the National Police have opened an investigation to try to clarify what happened.
