A 9-year-old suffered minor injuries after she was tossed from a carnival ride at the California Mid-State Fair on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
The girl fell from a car on the Super Himalaya ride at about 3 p.m. Tuesday, said Jerry Smitson, risk manager for Davis Enterprises, which owns the ride.
The child was taken to Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton.
The ride's operators told Smitson that the lap bar and ride didn't malfunction, he said.
"Right now we don’t know what happened exactly other than she came out of the ride," Smitson said.
State and independent investigators are now investigating the incident, he added. The ride has been closed.
Super Himalaya features cars on a circle track that spin forward and then backward at an angle. The rate of speed has not yet been released.
Her car was apparently going backward when she was tossed onto the ride's platform, Smitson said.
She was apparently riding in a car in between two others "and we don't know if she went under or over the lap bar," Smitson said.
The ride operator also told Smitson - who will arrive in Paso Robles from Florida on Wednesday - that the girl met the ride's age and height requirements, he said.
"No matter what we’re very sorry this happened and our concern is with the child and her parents right now," Smitson said.
In addition to the state's investigation into the ride, Smitson plans to interview those involved to get a better understanding of what happened, he said.
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