This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at various European amusement parks, water parks, or theme parks. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park operations, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy.

The term incidents refers to major accidents, injuries, deaths that occur at a European park. While these incidents were required to be reported to regulatory authorities due to where they occurred, they usually fall into one of the following categories:

• Caused by negligence on the part of the guest. This can be refusal to follow specific ride safety instructions, or deliberate intent to break park rules.
• The result of a guest's known or unknown health issues.
• Negligence on the part of the park, either by ride operator or maintenance.
• Act of God
  Act of God
  Act of God is a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible.- Contract law :...
  
   or a generic accident (e.g. slipping and falling), that is not a direct result of an action on anybody's part.

Alton Mouse

• In 1991 several people were injured after an accident on this ride. The ride was removed shortly after.

Corkscrew

• On June 24, 2001, 28 people were trapped for 90 minutes when the ride failed to complete its circuit. This was the second time the ride failed, the first being in 1997.

Rita - Queen of Speed

• In June 2005, a 12-year-old girl had both her wrists broken by the force of the 60 mph ride.

Runaway Mine Train

• On July 20, 2006, six people were taken to hospital and 23 others treated for cuts and bruises following an accident on the Runaway Mine Train.

Sky Ride

• On June 29, 2004, the Sky Ride cable cars abruptly stopped due to a jam. About 80 people were on the ride, and nine people had to be rescued.

Big Dipper

• On 30 May 1972, one of the trains became detached from the lift chain and rolled back to the station (the anti-rollback mechanism having also failed), colliding with the other train. Five children were killed and thirteen others injured. The ride (the park's main attraction) was permanently closed, leading to the decline in the popularity of the Funfair and its eventual closure at the end of the 1974 season.

Turbo Coaster

• In December 2002, eight riders were allowed to ride the coaster despite the fact that a 16 ft section of track had been removed for maintenance. The ride operator stopped the train just before it hit the missing section. In 2004, Brighton Pier was fined £37,000 for failing to ensure people's safety.

The Gauntlet

• On October 22, 2001, a 59-year-old employee was killed as he was struck by a train when he was performing maintenance on the ride. Prime Resorts Limited was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 costs, after a court decided the death was caused by fundamental management errors.

Rameses Revenge

• On July 23, 2001, 40 guests were trapped upside down on the ride when it suddenly stopped due to a technical hitch. After a couple of seconds the safety system kicked in lowering them to the ground. It took 20 minutes to release them. Emergency services tended to 6 people for asthma/panic attacks, although no one was seriously injured.

Power cut

On August 17, 2009, the whole park had a power cut, that resulted in many guests being trapped on rides for over two hours. Some riders of the Skytrain were stranded above the lion enclosure, and the lions started to circle below the ride. Riders of Rameses Revenge were left stranded at a 40° angle. Moreover visitors were banned from taking photos as it was "confidential". Many riders suffered dehydration from the heat. The park also waited two hours before it called the emergency services as it did not want to make the event known and out of their hands.

Fantasy Island

• On October 18, 2002, a 22-year-old ride operator broke his leg when a bungee ride malfunctioned. The employee was demonstrating the ride when the ankle restraints holding him in place snapped.

Magnum Force

• On June 1, 2004, a 32-year-old employee was injured by the Magnum Force roller coaster, allegedly due to him crossing through a restricted area under the coaster as a shortcut through the park.

Mumbo Jumbo

• On May 3, 2010, one of the carts got stuck midway through the ride due to a poncho blowing onto the tracks. Two female passengers were trapped upside down for 20 minutes before being safely removed from the ride by park attendants.

Gray's Amusement Park

• On June 2, 2000, a 12 year old boy died as a result of injuries sustained at Gray's Amusement Park in Ingoldmells near Skegness. He was hit in the chest by a manual swing, known as The Swinging Gym. The incident was described as a tragic accident.

Gulliver's Land

• On May 17, 2006, a 56-year-old park employee was performing safety checks on the train when he was decapitated by an oncoming train.

Ferris Wheel

• On July 13, 2002, a 15 year old girl fell 30 feet from a ferris wheel. She was taken to hospital, and died two days later from her injuries. The park were fined a total of £80,000 for failing to ensure a persons safety, and not carrying out risk assessments.

Flying Swinger

• Eighteen people were injured when a Flying Swinger ride collapsed at Guillena Zoo near Seville, Spain. The accident happened on April 9, 2005. Of the 18 injured, fifteen were children. Four people were seriously injured, including an 11 year-old girl and a woman, who were airlifted to a Hospital in Seville, after sustaining serious head and leg injuries. Witnesses said that the attraction's main support snapped in two, trapping victims under the debris. The ride, built in 2001, had just passed all of its required safety inspections.

Expedition GeForce

• On April 29, 2010, the Intamin coaster Expedition GeForce stopped 65-feet in the air when the first car derailed after completing the cars first drop. No one was seriously injured however all 26 riders had to be evacuated. It was reported a broken axle caused the accident.

The Xtreme Racer

• On April 29, 2007, a 21-year-old park employee was killed by a ride vehicle on The Xtreme Racer, a roller coaster at the Billund
  Billund, Denmark
  Billund is the second largest town in Billund Municipality, Region of Southern Denmark, Denmark with a population of 6,139 .-Overview:...
  
  , Denmark
  Denmark
  Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
  
   park, as she climbed over a security fence to retrieve a guest's wallet.

Treetop Twister

• On June 21, 2001, a 20-year-old woman died while on the ride. Police decided not to prosecute a maintenance worker, who claimed that he had only received an hour's training on that ride and had not seen its manual. Faulty wiring had also caused a malfunction on the ride. In October 2004, the deputy coroner ruled death by misadventure. On November 14, 2006, the park was charged with failing to ensure the health and safety of riders, and the ride operator was charged with failing to ensure safety through his work. Both pleaded guilty. The ride manufacturer, Reverchon Industries SA, was convicted of two charges of failing to ensure the ride's safe design and construction.

The Ulimate

In June, 1994, a deer from the nearby forest strayed on to the track, and was hit in a collision with the train. A 12-year-old boy was taken to hospital as a result of the accident

Liseberg

• In 1985, two empty rollercoaster trains collided at Liseberg, causing injuries to staff members.

• In 2005, a power failure affected western Sweden, causing all the attractions at Liseberg to stop, leaving people stranded in various positions but causing no injuries.

• On September 2, 2006, a man received injuries to his head and neck after being hit when a flagpole fell down.

Lisebergbanan

• On July 15, 2006, 21 people were injured at Liseberg when two roller coaster trains, on the rollercoaster Lisebergbanan
  Lisebergbanan
  Lisebergbanan is a steel roller coaster at the Liseberg amusement park in Gothenburg, Sweden. It opened in 1987.When Anton Schwarzkopf's company went bankrupt, Schwarzkopf worked with the Zierer company to produce several roller coasters. Lisebergbanan was the first of these rides, and it has been...
  
  , collided. The crash happened when the chain that pulls trains
  Train (roller coaster)
  A roller coaster train or car describes the vehicle which transports passengers around a roller coaster's circuit. More specifically, a roller coaster train is made up of two or more "cars" which are connected by some sort of specialized joint. It is called a "train" because the cars follow one...
  
   up the initial climb malfunctioned, causing a fully loaded train to roll backward into the loading platform, hitting another train that was unloading riders. Since only part of the train was on the lift, the anti-rollback mechanism had not fully engaged and broke. The steel rollercoaster was built in 1987 and is one of Sweden's largest, reaching speeds up to 80 km/h. Since the accident the rollercoaster has opened again, after a technical adjustment.

Flumeride

• On October 8, 2006, a woman in her thirties was seriously injured on the log boat ride
  Log flume (attraction)
  Log flumes originally referred to a special construct used to transport lumber and logs down mountainous terrain to a sawmill by using flowing water. Today, however, the term is also used to refer to an amusement ride consisting of a water flume and artificial hollow logs or boats...
  
   "Flumeride". At the second and final drop, a 14 metre slope, the woman apparently panicked, and tried to keep the log boat from travelling down the slope by holding on to the railings. She was ejected from the boat into the water and slid down the slope, where she was hit in the head by at least one of the two following log boats. Since she had managed to temporarily keep the log boat from dropping down the slope, the following two log boats passed the last safety gate, and couldn't be stopped from falling down the last slope where the woman was located. The event was witnessed by the staff who stopped the ride, but were unable to prevent two of the log boats from continuing. The woman, who was travelling together with her 11-year-old daughter and another woman, was taken to Sahlgrenska University Hospital, where she was reported to be in critical but stable condition. An investigation has been initiated by the authorities, and Liseberg has also initiated an internal inquiry. She eventually recovered fully.

Rainbow

• On July 15, 2008, 30 people were injured when the ride collapsed. The park manager stated that he believes a ball bearing on the ride failed. The ride was dismantled on July 17, 2008. Investigators then confirmed on July 19, 2008 that they had discovered a faulty drive shaft during their inspection. They believed that one of the axles that is designed to hold the passenger carriage horizontal failed. The drive shaft had been replaced by Huss Maschinefabrik, the rides manufacturer in 2003.

Hangover

• In 1997, 25 young people were trapped for three hours when the ride "Hangover" at Liseberg malfunctioned.

Kållerado

• In 2001, a 14-year old boy was pinned between a raft and a landing on the ride "Kållerado" at Liseberg.

Little Frogs

• In 2002, six small children received minor injuries when a safety latch failed on the attraction "the little frogs" at Liseberg.

Rat

• On July 16, 2007, an 18 year old park worker died after falling 80 ft from the Rat ride at the Scottish Park. He was on a day off on July 15, 2007 when it is believed he saw one of the carriages stuck on the ride. He climbed up to attempt to fix the ride, however when it started to move he was dragged to the highest point, when he lost his grip and fell.

The park voluntarily closed the ride even after it passed inspection.

Katun

• In 2007, a man was killed at the Mirabilandia theme park in Ravenna, Italy, when he was hit in the head by the leg of a female rider on the Katun inverted coaster. The girl whose leg struck the man was injured. The man was in a restricted area when he was struck, however the ride was still closed so officials could investigate.

Phantasialand Pleasure Park

• On May 1, 2001, a fire broke out at the Phantasialand theme park in Bruehl, near Cologne, Germany. 54 people were injured during the fire, however no one was seriously hurt. The fire broke out on the mostly wooden rollercoaster on a day when the park was filled with 20,000 visitors. The park's founder said a cable fire in one of the rollercoaster cars was most likely the cause of the blaze. There were 150 passengers on the ride when the fire broke out, however they were able to exit the cars using a 60 foot ladder.

Pepsi Max Big One

• On August 31, 2000, 23 people were injured, when two ride vehicles collided due to a failure of the ride's braking system. Of those injured, 21 were taken to the hospital.

Space Invader

• On July 21, 2000, an 11-year-old boy died after he fell out of the ride vehicle. Reports say that he panicked on the dark ride and unfastened his seatbelt and that he fell 50ft.

The Big Dipper

• On August 11, 2009, two trains - carrying a total of 32 guests - collided, resulting in 21 guests requiring treatment at a nearby hospital for injuries ranging from whiplash and broken noses, to cuts and bruises.

Parc Astérix

• On July 5, 2006, a 6-year-old Belgian boy drowned as he was dragged underwater by the current.

Tomahawk

• On May 18, 2009, a 55-year-old park employee died after being run over by a coaster train as he was performing maintenance.

Sky Ride

• In April 2004, four guests were stranded on the ride due to an electrical fault.

• On August 25, 2004, a 59-year-old employee was killed after he became trapped on a cable car as he was performing maintenance on the ride. The park was fined £95,000 for breaching health & safety laws, and were also ordered to pay £50,000 in costs.

Extasy

• On April 5, 2010, a Vienna man died after trying to jump on to a high-speed carousel ride at Vienna's Prater amusement park. The 34 year old was drunk when he attempted to get back on the ride after it had started by hurling himself at the spinning carousel. He died soon after from the multiple injuries.

Volare

• Three people were injured on the Volare rollercoaster on October 22, 2010, when a crane crashed against the ride. The 'wagon' steered into the crane's hoist, set close to the ride. A 21 year old Macedonian man sustained serious head injuries when he fell 8 metres to the ground from the platform supported by the crane. One tourist broke her arm while her friend suffered cuts and bruises. The official accident report says the employee operating the rollercoaster was unaware the worker was busy on the scaffolding when he started up the ride. Newspapers, however, report that the attraction has been in operation many times while the painters were busy.

Drenched (Hydro)

• On April 16, 2004, a 16-year-old girl from Pontypool, was killed after falling approximately 30 m (100 ft) from the top of the Hydro (now called Drenched) ride. During a trial brought by the victim's family against Oakwood, a jury returned a narrative verdict stating that the victim died due to not being properly restrained. In February 2008, Oakwood was charged by the Health and Safety Executive
  Health and Safety Executive
  The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...
  
   for park staff not ensuring that guests were properly and safely restrained. On May 22, 2008, magistrates in Haverfordwest magistrates court rejected Oakwood Leisure Limited's request for an adjournment and directed that the hearing should proceed on the assumption of a not guilty plea. The magistrates declined jurisdiction and adjourned the case which was committed for crown court trial in Swansea Crown Court on July 7, 2008. The magistrates' court was limited to fining the company £20,000, the crown court can impose an unlimited fine. On July 8, 2008, Oakwood plead guilty under the Health and Safety Act 1974 for failing to conduct its business such to ensure that its guests were not exposed to risks, and will face sentencing.

Mini-Dragon

• On September 11, 1999, an 8-year-old girl died one day after falling from the coaster and hitting her head on a steel support. On February 19, 2003, Dreamland Leisure was found guilty of negligence in ensuring guest safety. The company were fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £15,000 in compensation to the victim's mother.

Mr Rabbit's Tropical Travels

• On July 21, 2000, seven thousand people were evacuated from the park after Mr Rabbit's Tropical Travels boat ride caught on fire. The fire was allegedly started by a stray cigarette butt. A number of other attractions were also damaged, including Phantom Phantasia, which was totally destroyed.

Rush

• On May 29, 2008, a 4 ft piece of metal fell off the "Rush ride" and fell 100 feet.

SAW Alive

• On 5 April 2011, the park's horror maze, SAW Alive, suffered minor damage after a fire broke out in the building, the cause of which is still unknown. The park was closed at the time of the fire, and no guests were in the attraction.

Thunder River (Rumba Rapids)

• In the ride's opening year of 1986, an 11 year old boy called Jonathan White was thrown from a boat and lost an ear. The news was broken by Children's BBC TV news programme, Newsround
  Newsround
  Newsround is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972, and was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically at children...
  
  .

X:\ No Way Out

• On 31 August 2000, A 11-year-old boy broke both his legs and was left with slurred speech after suffering a brain injury on the ride (left vertebral artery dissection) after falling out of the car.

Zodiac

• In September 2001, two teenagers were left dangling from a gondola on the Zodiac Enterprise ride. The two pupils from an East Sussex school, Gemma Clark and Scott Reeves, were on the ride when a support holding the gondola snapped, leaving it hanging by a single support. When the operator tried to halt the ride, the gondola repeatedly hit decking at the bottom before coming to a stop. Minor injuries were sustained. In 2004, Tussauds Theme Park, then owner of Thorpe Park, were fined £65,000.

Cobra

• On July 4, 2008, four unidentified people were injured while riding the Cobra coaster. The ride vehicle broke in two, with the front part of the train falling to the ground.

Tramore Amusement Park

• On August 5th, 2002, a 16-year-old male employee of the park was struck and killed by the "slingshot" ride while it was in operation.

• On August 26, 2006, a 22-year-old man died in an accident after falling out of a ghost train car and being run over by a second train.

Astroslide

• On September 5, 2004, a seven-year-old girl died after sustaining severe head injuries after falling to the ground while exiting the ride.