MANILA - Pasay City officials are set to investigate an incident at the Star City carnival in Pasay City, where a roller coaster stopped working and left 12 passengers stranded in mid-air for about 2 hours on Sunday evening.

All 12 riders reportedly got out of the "Zyklon Loop" roller coaster safely. The ride stopped at around 8:40 p.m. on September 20 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) grounds.

Pasay City Vice Mayor Antonio Calixto said in a phone interview that they will launch an official investigation on Tuesday morning, after they get hold of City Engineer Edwin Abaluya.

Calixto said he had been trying to contact Abaluya since this afternoon, to no avail.

"Kinakailangan first hour in the morning, by tomorrow, ay paiimbestigahan po natin kung ano talaga ang nangyari at nagkaroon ng insidente sa roller coaster diyan sa Star City. Siguro after lunch, tawagan ako at yung report ng City Engineer ay sasabihin. Alam ko naman meron silang (Star City) safety engineer, kasi one of the requirements po iyan eh. By tomorrow, irerefer ko rin yung resolution ko regarding what really happened to that roller coaster," Calixto said.

(First thing tomorrow morning, we need to investigate what really caused the roller coaster incident at Star City. Maybe after lunch, the City engineer will report to me. I know Star City has a safety engineer, because that is one of the requirements. By tomorrow, I will refer my own resolution regarding what really happened to that roller coaster.)

The mayor said Pasay City officials are "very concerned" about the incident because Star City fairground rides, like the Zyklon Loop roller coaster, are used "the whole year round."

Safe rides?

Star City spokesperson Ed de Leon said there were no injuries during the incident and that a team of doctors and nurses attended to the 12 stranded riders after they dismounted the Zyklon Loop.

De Leon said the rollercoaster stalled when one of the ride's passengers accidentally dropped a bag that got stuck in the ride's gears.

He said amusement park engineers have already removed the bag. "Our rides, bragging aside, are very safe," he said in a previous statement.

De Leon insisted that the passengers were rescued after 15 to 20 minutes since the ride stalled, contrary to initial reports that the riders were stranded for over 2 hours.

He also addressed reports that visitors were not permitted to take photos of the stranded roller coaster during the incident.

He said they could not control the sheer number of people.

Video of the incident

Park visitor Val Leonardo, meanwhile, showed videos of the incident he had taken using his cellphone camera.

He said he and his family were at the Star City Grounds at around 9 p.m. on Sunday when his sister called to tell him that one of the park's roller coaster rides in the Safari area had stalled.

"Noong lumabas ako, di ko napansin, iyon pala nasa tuktok iyong roller coaster. Sa mataas sila, sa tuktok mismo, [at] 12 sila magkakasama. Church mates sila, sa Sampaloc daw sila nakatira. Mga bata pa sila. 18 to 25 years old, mga young people sila. Born-again Christians sa Sampaloc," he said in a phone interview with ABS-CBN News.

(When I went out, I didn't see it at first, that there was the car at the top of the roller coaster. They were high, at the top of the roller coaster. There were 12 of them. People said they were church-mates from Sampaloc. They were young, about 18-25 years old. [They are] Born Again Christians from Sampaloc [in Manila].)

Based on his observations and reports from fellow spectators, Leonardo estimates that the rescue time took about 2 hours.

"Eh sabi ng mga tao doon, 45 minutes na daw naka-hang doon iyon, bago ako lumabas. Noong lumabas ako mga 9:15 to 9:45 [p.m.]. Siguro noong wala pa ako, 45 minutes na daw naka-hang doon, nung dumating ako, siguro another 45 minutes or matagal sa 45 minutes pa. Baka mga 2 hours siguro, ganyan," he said in a phone interview with ABS-CBN News.

(People also said that they were stuck there for 45 minutes, before I left the park. I left at about 9:15 to 9:45. Before I came, people said the roller coaster had already been hanging there for 45 minutes. When I came, it took another 45 minutes or more. Maybe it was 2 hours, like that.)

He said he waited until all the passengers were rescued. He added that the 12 riders were immediately rushed to the clinic, where they spent about 20 to 25 minutes.

Shaken, scared

Leonardo also observed that the 12 passengers were not panicking but that fear was written on their faces while they were stranded on the Zyklon Loop, which was tipped sideways.

"Kasi namumutla sila noong bumaba eh, nanginginig pa iyong mga kamay noong babae. Hawak-kamay sila. Siguro sabi nila nagpi-pray na lang sila kung ano mangyari sa kanila sa tuktok. Namumutla sila noong bumaba kasi nga siyempre naka-slant iyon, naka-tagilid. Hindi naman totally naka-tuwad, tagilid lang," he said.

(One of the female passengers looked pale and shaky. The passengers were holding hands. Maybe they were praying about what will happen to them while they were suspended in the air. They looked pale and stricken when they went down because the roller coaster ride was slanted sideways. It didn't flip over, just slanted sideways.)

Leonardo said he was told that one of the ride's wheels disengaged. He later saw 5 people, 4 clad in black and one in yellow, who were trying to re-attach the wheels to the railway.

Taking photographs or videos of the event were reportedly prohibited by fairground security, according to Leonardo's account.

He said that some friends of the stranded passengers even got angry at the security guards when they were prohibited from taking pictures of the incident.

"Pinagbawalan daw sila. Iyon iyong nakausap ko na nagalit sa security guard kasi ayaw nilang pakuhaan ng picture 'tsaka video. Sabi ng security guard inutusan lang daw sila. Pagka ginawa daw nila iyon (kumuha ng photo o video), kukumpiskahin iyong mga cellphone nila kaya nakiusap sa akin na kunan ko raw. Kaya nong ginawa ko, sinimplehan ko na lang kunan," he said.

(They were prohibited. The one I talked to got angry at the security guard because they were not allowed to take pictures and video because their cellphones will be confiscated. The security guard said they were ordered [to stop the crowd from taking pictures and video]. They asked me to take a video. So when I did, I did it on the sly.)

Aside from him, Leonardo said many others were able to take photos and pictures of the event.

Leonardo said the ride was closed down after the passengers were rescued, pending investigations.

He added that a security guard pointed out members of Star City's management who were present during the rescue proceedings, including the fair manager.

"In fairness to them (Star City management), they did their job to ensure that everything was orderly. But of course, the passengers [who got stuck on the roller coaster] were scared of falling. [I spoke with one of the female passengers] and she said they won't ride that anymore, because they only went on [the Zyklon Loop] once. They got scared," he said in Filipino. Reports from ABS-CBN News.