Several injured Monday when ride at Holland's Dutch Village malfunctions

Fri, Sep 5, 2008    to del.icio.us

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP — Jennifer Sauceda's 10-year-old daughter Elliana is too old to need help dressing for school.

Tuesday morning, Sauceda had to button her daughter's pants for her.

Elliana sprained her thumb after a malfunction on a ride at Nelis' Dutch Village on Monday.

Eight people were riding the swings — which rotate in a circle in the air — around 3 p.m. Monday when the ride jerked to a stop, said Dutch Village President Joe Nelis. The riders remained fastened into the swings, but could not avoid crashing into one another.

Some riding the inner swings crashed into the center shaft, said Sauceda, who was watching her husband and daughter on the ride.

The top of the ride still appeared tilted to one side on Tuesday morning and was out of service.

Sauceda's husband, Charlie, strained his shoulder and is now wearing a shoulder sling, Sauceda said.

"He'll be in a sling the rest of the week and he had to miss work last night," she said.

Sauceda said she isn't happy with how the incident was handled. She said police were not alerted and no ambulances arrived, even though several people were injured.

"I know a couple other ladies complained of backs and necks hurting," she said.

Nelis said employees offered assistance to all the riders.

"If anyone would've needed medical attention more than what we provided, we would've called an ambulance," Nelis said.

There were no life-threatening injuries and that it did not seem necessary to call the police, he said.

Four of the eight riders reported no injuries, Nelis said.

Nelis is unsure of the ride's age. It was imported from the Netherlands about 35 to 40 years ago, he said. It seats 36 people.

On Tuesday morning, Nelis was completing paperwork to have an insurance company assess the damage and inspect the ride. Until that happens, the ride will remain closed, he said.

Nelis said the ride is taken down at the end of the season each year. Both of the rides — the other is a carousel — at Dutch Village, 12350 James St., are inspected, daily, he said.

Nelis said that earlier in the day on Monday, "there was a report of (the ride) making some funny noise," but that it was determined to be safe to ride after an inspection.

"Obviously, everyone was shook up and upset, and we're very sorry to the families," Nelis said.

Sauceda said Dutch Village employees took personal information from riders after their ride was cut short and offered them ice, ibuprofen and an apology.

"I don't think they had a clue what to do when it happened," she said. "I said, 'We're lucky it wasn't worse, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place.' They said, 'We know and we're sorry.'"