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Updated Monday, June 21, 2010 10:13 am TWN, The China Post news staff

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Ferris wheel traps 100 passengers for 90 minutes

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan -- The Ferris wheel of E-Da World in southern Taiwan malfunctioned on Saturday, confining about a hundred passengers for approximately 90 minutes, local media reported yesterday.

Kaohsiung City's E-Da Outlet Mall houses the country's second biggest Ferris wheel, which started operating in February this year.

According to local reporters, the 40-carriage ride, situated on the rooftop of the shopping center, stopped working at 3:48 p.m. on June 19.

Nearly a hundred persons waited until 5:20 p.m. that day before the Ferris wheel was repaired, local media reported.

Officials of E-Da World said the power got cut off twice Saturday afternoon, which caused the Ferris wheel to stop running.

The shopping center's generator was to restart the Ferris wheel within 10 minutes, but for safety reasons, engineers reset the computer system as well, officials explained.

That is why it took nearly an hour and a half, they continued.

Many who were in the area and witnessed the incident expressed their worries to the reporters, they said.

One of the passengers, surnamed Lin, told local reporters that the ride halted only 30 seconds after he got on.

Lin complained about the length of time that the staff took to explain the situation and to fix the faults, reporters added.

Another passenger, surnamed Chen, said when panicked she received no response after pressing the emergency help button in the carriage.

Trapped passengers were given complimentary beverages, entrance tickets of E-Da Theme Park which are worth NT$1,350, and souvenirs as a token gesture of apology to express their regrets.

Representatives of local consumers' protection groups said the situation is unacceptable, and no gifts can make up customers' unpleasant experience.

E-Da World's Ferris wheel, made in Italy, has a diameter of 80 meters and can carry up to 300 passengers.

The last incident that involves a malfunctioned ride occurred in central Taiwan in August 2009, confining more than 20 passengers in midair for nearly half an hour, local reporters said.

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Comments

June 21, 2010 jonkerjan2000@

I was one of the passengers trapped on Saturday. I would like to thank the staff for apologizing when we got out of the car, the drinks and gifts. My only concern is the fact that they did not make any announcements in English, but gladly I was with a Taiwanese friend. It was an experience being up there for 90 minutes!!

June 22, 2010 elumpen@

I think that's the thing I like most about Taiwan. When I was stuck on a plane in the US for 4 hours, the staff were surly and rude, even though there were only a dozen passengers to look after. They literally just sat there sneering at us. We got 200ml bottles of water to keep us quiet. 90% of Taiwanese service staff go far, far out of their way to make sure customers walk away happy when stuff goes wrong, which it inevitably does now and then. Despite the bad drivers and the halfwit businessmen mucking the place up (generally the same people, it seems) Taiwan is still a great country.