Visitors 'Stuck On Rollercoaster Before Crash'

A visitor to Alton Towers has told Sky News he was stuck on the Smiler rollercoaster about three hours before two cars collided injuring several people.

Tom Welton said he was stuck at the bottom of the first hill and afterwards another carriage was sent out to apparently test the ride.

Sixteen people were involved in a collision between a moving carriage with passengers and an empty stationary one at the amusement park. Four were seriously hurt.

Mr Welton said he heard a "big bang" and then an air ambulance was sent to the scene and the area was evacuated.

James Gay, another visitor to the amusement park who saw the aftermath, questioned why the ride was still open after it had been hit by technical glitches during the day.

He tweeted: "People were stuck on The Smiler a couple of hours ago, they let the ride stay open and two carriages collide.

"Alton Towers, when are you closing this ride down for good? The ride had more than one problem today, I wish them all a recovery. It wasn't a nice experience at all."

He added: "It was awful to see, I wanted to climb down and do what I could to help but the response time from the professionals was very quick."

Leigh Curtis said he was waiting for another rollercoaster, called Air, earlier in the day when there was a technical problem which stopped that ride for several minutes.

He said an empty carriage was then sent out to test the ride.

He said following the collision, people were gathering around the area where visitors come in, adding: "There's quite an eerie feeling at the moment.

"There's not a lot of people talking. They are standing in bewilderment."

Lloyd Coller said he heard the accident which "sounded like a car crash - metal on metal".

"At first it was sort of panic stations, hundreds of staff were on the scene straight away. Within 10 minutes the whole area was closed off."

An Alton Towers spokeswoman told Sky News the theme park could not comment on the visitors' claims and a full investigation into the incident was taking place.

Smiler Ride In Numbers:

Height: 30 metres

Speed: 53mph (85kph)

Length: 1,170 metres

Duration: 165 seconds

Cost: £18m

Opened: 31 May 2013