Rollercoaster nightmare at Madrid’s Warner Park as man is airlifted to hospital

In a concerning incident at Madrid’s Warner Park on Saturday, August 29, a 49-year-old man suffered serious injuries after riding the Batman Gotham City Escape rollercoaster. The accident occurred around 2:38 pm, when the ride came to an abrupt halt, leaving the man pinned between elements of the attraction. He sustained fractures in both of his legs, one open and one closed, requiring an emergency helicopter evacuation to Madrid’s Hospital 12 de Octubre.

While authorities described his injuries as potentially serious, they noted that his life was not immediately at risk.

Emergency services, including the Guardia Civil and Policía Local, responded to the scene at Warner Park in San Martín de la Vega, Madrid. The injured man was initially treated at the park before being airlifted to the hospital for further assessment. Despite the severity of his injuries, the man’s condition was deemed stable by medical teams.

The precise cause of the accident remains under investigation, with various witness accounts suggesting he may have slipped from his seat or become trapped during the ride. However, no official cause has been established yet.

Warner Park’s Batman Gotham City Escape, Spain’s first multi-launch rollercoaster, was inaugurated in 2023 and features a 98-degree drop, multiple inversions, and speeds up to 100 km/h. The ride’s complex technical specifications are now part of the ongoing investigation. The theme park immediately closed the Batman Gotham City Escape attraction for review and cooperation with authorities.

While the park itself continued to operate, it temporarily halted activities in the immediate vicinity of the incident and removed visitors from the affected area.

As the authorities delve into the circumstances surrounding the accident, they will examine the ride’s mechanical components and operational procedures to determine what went wrong. This incident echoes a previous fatal accident at Warner Park in 2005, where a man died after suffering a head injury on the Hotel Embrujado attraction.

Unlike that tragedy, the current incident at Batman Gotham City Escape appears to involve a physical injury rather than an apparent mechanical failure. The affected attraction will remain closed pending a thorough review before it can safely reopen.