Daytona Beach roller coaster was inspected hours before derailment, state official says

Officials with the Florida Department of Agriculture say a roller coaster that derailed at the Daytona Beach Boardwalk Thursday night had been inspected earlier in the day.

A total of 10 riders were rescued, according to a tweet from the Daytona Beach Fire Department. The extent of all of their injuries was not immediately known, the fire department said.

A Halifax Health Medical Center spokeswoman said the hospital received nine patients from the accident.

Tangela Boyd, a spokeswoman for Halifax Health Medical Center said Friday that the hospital wouldn’t provide updates on their conditions due to privacy concerns. Officials had originally said six people were taken to the hospital.

The cause of the accident was under investigation, according to Daytona Beach Fire spokeswoman Sasha Staton.

“Just yesterday, department inspectors conducted a thorough inspection of the ride, and it was found in compliance with state law,” Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Communications Director Jennifer Meale said.

Meale said the Department of Agriculture has launched an investigation into the cause of the accident.

Inspection records from the department of agriculture show that the ride failed an inspection on May 17, 2018. Inspectors found excessive corrosion, a damaged seat and a crack in the track.

Those problems, though, were corrected by the time of the follow-up inspection on Thursday, according to the reports.

Roller coaster databases show that the roller coaster had operated in four other locations in its four-decade history.

The Sandblaster roller coaster opened in Daytona Beach in 2013 after a $1 million overhaul.

Before that, it was at the Blue Diamond Amusement Park in New Castle, Delaware where the ride was called the Blue Diamond Streak.

According to UltimateRollercoaster.com, the coaster operated at DelGrosso’s Amusement Park in Tipton, Pennsylvania, and before that, the coaster was at Legend City in Phoenix, Arizona.

It originated at Adventureland Park in Addison, Illinois.

It was shutdown in Daytona Beach by the Department of Agriculture in 2017 after a number of problems were reported, according to the Daytona Beach Boardwalk and Amusement Rides website. 

A few months after it was shutdown by the state, the ride reopened under new ownership.