This is literally the stuff of nightmares.
A roller coaster at an amusement park in the U.S. has been forced to shut down.
The reason – a visitor spotted a large crack in one of the ride’s pillars.
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It’s not something you want to see on a running rollercoaster, and definitely not something you want to see when you’re about to ride it.
That being said, staff at Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte, N.C., were quick to shut the ride down.
The park said it closed the coaster, called Fury 325, “after park personnel became aware of a crack at the top of a steel support pillar”.
Jeremy Wagner, who was visiting the park with his daughter, son, and his son’s friend, captured the crack on video.
The footage he recorded shows the pillar separating briefly at the crack, as the coaster car zips by on the track.
There’s no denying it’s scary to watch, especially considering what could’ve happened.
“I was trying to shoot the video, and my hands were shaking because I knew how quick this could be catastrophic,” Wagner said.
To make matters worse, Wagner had just bought his children season passes for the park, and said his daughter had been on the roller coaster eight times that day.
Measuring 325 feet tall, Fury 325 is one of Carowind’s main attractions.
The ride sends dozens of riders barrelling at speeds of up to 95 mph (152 km/h) during its more than three-minute ride.
According to the amusement park, the ride opened to the public in 2015 and is the “longest giga coaster in North America”.
If you’re not familiar with the term, giga coasters are roller coasters with drops of 300 feet to 399 feet.
Despite closing down its number one attraction, the rest of the theme park, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, remains open.
