Two teenage girls each win enormous payout after they were trapped upside down on malfunctioning fairground ride for 25 minutes

A Portland jury has awarded two teenage girls a combined $550,000 (£275,000 each) after they were left trapped upside down for 25 minutes on a malfunctioning fairground ride. Xitlali Gomez-Salais and Evie Yannotta, both now 16, had sued Oaks Amusement Park and ride distributor Zamperla Inc. for $2 million, alleging psychological and physical trauma from the June 2024 incident, which highlights the safety risks and legal exposure faced by amusement parks when equipment fails.

The pair, then aged 13 and 14, were suspended on the AtmosFEAR pendulum ride when it froze in its "apex position", with all 28 riders' belongings falling around 100ft as terrified passengers screamed, vomited and passed out. Staff eventually freed them using a rescue bar borrowed from the fire department. After a three-day trial, jurors voted 10-2 to award the girls a quarter of what they had sought, while Oaks Park and Zamperla, who had initially blamed each other, agreed the ride had malfunctioned unforeseeably and that one of them bore responsibility. Nine riders in total have sued the park, with six cases already settled.