A worker dies in a rollercoaster accident during the Oktoberfest construction. The incident brings back memories of an accident in Vienna.
The fatal accident of a worker on the Olympia Looping on Monday morning was not the first on the largest transportable roller coaster in the world. In April 2022, a 30-year-old employee of the ride was hit by a gondola and died at the scene of the accident despite immediate first aid measures. At that time, the Olympia Looping was in the Prater in Austria’s capital Vienna.
According to the police at the time, the woman had crossed the roller coaster’s track when the accident occurred. The owners of the ride, the Barth family of showmen, explained that the employee had entered the ride through a cordoned-off danger area. It was not possible to clarify why she had chosen this route – and not the intended route around the outside. She was familiar with the ride and had been properly instructed, they said.
Possible technical defects that could have been the cause of the accident could be ruled out in the Prater incident. How the accident on Monday at Munich’s Theresienwiese came about is still the subject of police investigations. There, too, the worker was hit by a gondola and eventually succumbed to his serious injuries in hospital.
The Olympia Looping, which is known for its five vertical loops reminiscent of the Olympic rings, was first presented at the Oktoberfest in 1989. In addition to the Wiesn, it is now also located annually in the Vienna Prater and at the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland in London. At a height of 32.5 meters and a length of 1,250 meters, the cars reach a maximum speed of 90 kilometers per hour.
