22 people left hanging in mid-air for two hours on an Arizona roller coaster

A breakdown Saturday on an Arizona roller coaster left 22 people hanging sideways 20 feet above the ground for about two hours, firefighters say.

“There were a lot of kids on there that were really terrified,” rider Christopher Almarez told KSAZ. The 5:30 p.m. breakdown took place on the Desert Storm roller coaster at Castles N Coasters amusement park in Phoenix.

Firefighters rescued riders from the stalled coaster using extension ladders and a high-angle belay system, the Phoenix Fire Department reported on Twitter. No injuries were reported.

“It was pretty fun but scary,” Christina Almarez told AZ Family. The 13-year-old said she’d ride another roller coaster, but her 12-year-old brother, Joseph, wasn’t so sure.

“I almost fell,” he told the station. Riders said the roller coaster car slowed down on a horizontal loop, then rolled backward and forward before coming to a stop.

The Glendale Fire Department also took part in the rescue.

The cause of the breakdown remains under investigation, KNXV reported.

This story was originally published May 16, 2021 at 7:40 AM with the headline "22 people left hanging in mid-air for two hours on an Arizona roller coaster."