A 24-year-old employee at Tokyo Dome City Attractions died after being trapped for approximately five hours in the mechanism of the Flying Balloon ride during a routine inspection.
The incident occurred on Tuesday morning at the amusement park in Bunkyo ward, central Tokyo, when Kamimura Hina was conducting a monthly safety check with five colleagues on the attraction.
According to police and park officials, she was working on a stepladder near the central pillar when the ride’s seats— which had been stopped at the top of their 10-meter ascent— suddenly descended, pinning her between the moving seats and the pillar.
Rescue operations took nearly five hours to free her, after which she was transported to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.
The ride features 12 seats arranged in a circle around a central pillar that rotate and rise to a height of approximately 10 meters (33 feet).
Tokyo Dome City Attractions has suspended operations of all rides pending the outcome of the investigation into the cause of the accident.
Park officials stated they take the matter “extremely seriously” and will cooperate fully with authorities to determine what happened and prevent similar incidents in the future.
Police are investigating the park’s safety management procedures as part of their inquiry into the fatal workplace accident.
