A woman tragically fell 30 feet to her death while riding a chair lift at a theme park in Tennessee.
The woman, who looked to be in her late 20’s, was not immediately identified after she was discovered lifeless beneath a chair lift attraction at Anakeesta Theme Park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Witnesses claim the woman fell at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday and didn’t have her safety railing secured when she fell about 30 feet into the 60-foot ride.
Some of the onlookers said, to avoid the gruesome scene, they were told not to look down while on the ride.
Jeffrey McConnell said, “I was at the park with my fiancée and three children when the woman fell about three-quarters of the way up. The ride inexplicably kept going after she fell.”
“You could see the concern on everyone’s face that was getting on,” another witness, Jay Duero said.
Park officials claim the ride was last inspected in late April and its latest permit was set to expire on Aug. 4.
The woman’s death was confirmed by park officials and they reported that an ongoing investigation is taking place at this time.
“Our hearts are with the family of the deceased,” Anakeesta officials said. “We cannot disclose further information at this time.”
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development will conduct a mechanical inspection of the chair lift, which was closed on Friday. The state investigation may take up to eight weeks.
Some of the witnesses who watched the woman fall said, it might not have been an accident and she may have jumped intentionally to harm herself.
“The lady that fell jumped!” read one Facebook reply to Anakeesta’s note on the ride closure. “Many witnesses. She did not fall on accident. Stop blaming the park.”