Ohio State Fair accident victim Tyler Jarrell just joined Marines
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The 18-year-old man killed when a thrill ride broke apart at the Ohio State Fair had just signed up with the Marines a week ago, the Marine Corps said Thursday.
The corps and school officials said Tyler Jarrell enlisted last week and was going to begin basic training next summer after his high school graduation.
"That was just this past Friday. Then he goes to the state fair and he is involved in this horrible tragedy. It's just devastating," said Capt. Gerard Lennon Jr., a naval science instructor in the Junior ROTC program at Jarrell's high school.
Jarrell wanted to be in the infantry or serve as a combat engineer, the corps said.
"We are truly proud to have known him as one of the brave few willing to step up and serve his country in the United States Marine Corps," the statement said.
He was one of several people who were thrown to the ground when the ride malfunctioned. The others injured range in age from 14 to 42. At least two of the injured were in critical condition Thursday at Ohio State Medical Center. Some people were hit by debris.
Jarrell's girlfriend was among those seriously injured, her mother told The Columbus Dispatch. Keziah Lewis, a University of Cincinnati student, doesn't remember the accident and has pelvis, ankle and rib injuries, Clarissa Williams said.
"She kept asking for her boyfriend," Williams said. "I had to tell her he was the one who was deceased."
Video captured by a bystander at the fair Wednesday evening shows the Fire Ball ride swinging above its bottom platform when a crashing sound is heard. The footage shows one section holding four riders come apart as it begins to swing upward.
With the sound of the crash stunning onlookers, at least two people were thrown from the ride, CBS News correspondent Adriana Diaz reports.
"I heard a girl scream 'help,' and I look over, and I see someone fly out, and then I see it slap to the ground," witness Jennifer Body told CBS Columbus affiliate WBNS-TV.
First responders and witnesses rushed to help the victims, who were scattered across the ground.
"Our hearts are heavy for the families of those involved in last night's tragic accident," fair officials said in a Thursday post on Twitter. "We have shut down all rides until the state has inspected each and every ride again and deemed them to be safe."
Officials are investigating what caused the ride to break apart and would not speculate on possible explanations.
Records show that inspections were up to date and a state permit had just been issued for the ride. Ohio Department of Agriculture records provided Thursday to The Associated Press show passing marks on inspections of about three dozen items including cracks, brakes, proper assembly and installation.
The Fire Ball ride swings 24 riders back and forth like a pendulum while they sit facing each other in four-seat carriages that also spin and are attached to the main arm.
Amusements of America, the company that provides rides to the Ohio State Fair, describes the Fire Ball as an "aggressive thrill ride." On its website, it says the Fire Ball debuted in 2002 and is one of its most popular rides on the midway. It says it can swing passengers 40 feet above the ground, while spinning them at 13 revolutions per minute.
Amusements of America did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
The ride's Dutch manufacturer, KMG, said the one at the Ohio State Fair was built in 1998 in the Netherlands. Forty-three of the rides, also known as the Afterburner, are in use in the U.S. and elsewhere. None has been involved in a serious malfunction before, the company said in an email to The Associated Press.
Gov. John Kasich, who toured the fair Thursday, said after the accident: "Of course we want to get to the bottom of this. Make no mistake about it, it's a very, very sad night for all of us."
Kasich said it's too early to speculate about what happened and is promising a thorough investigation. He noted the findings could help other fairs and amusement parks.
The accident prompted fairs in California and Canada to shut down the Fire Ball ride.
Barry Schaible, an inspector with a company hired by the California State Fair, told KCRA-TV in Sacramento, "We shut down the ride immediately, unloaded it and it's closed right now."
Michael Vartorella, Ohio's chief inspector of amusement ride safety, said the Fire Ball was inspected three or four times before the fair opened.
"We take this job very serious, and when we have an accident like this ... it hits us really hard," Vartorella said. "My children, my grandchildren ride this equipment. Our guys do not rush through this stuff. We look at it, we take care of it, and we pretend it's our own."
For Kaylie Bellomy, the state fair's opening day hit her personally. Bellomy was in the next group waiting to board the Fire Ball.
"It was going for a minute and it was at its highest point and I saw somebody fall on the ride, and then a minute later the whole like row of seats fell off and hit the ground," Bellomy told WCMH-TV.
It was chaos afterward, she said. "Everybody was running. I got ran over trying to get out of the way."
The Ohio State Fair, which is one of the largest state fairs in the U.S., runs through Aug. 6.
