- A video shows an amusement park "drop tower" malfunctioning and sending its riders into a free-fall.
- The ride in India's Punjab state broke on Sunday with about 50 people on board, per local media.
A video posted on Sunday evening appears to show part of an amusement park ride in India crashing to the ground with dozens of people on board.
The ride was a "drop tower" attraction that broke at a fair in Mohali, a district of the Indian state of Punjab, according to local network NDTV. It malfunctioned around 9:15 p.m. on Sunday, the broadcaster reported.
The attraction featured a tower and a circular platform, which spun as it ascended the tower. When it reached the top, it plummeted abruptly, smashing into the ride's bottom.
A clip of the incident was tweeted by Nikhil Choudhary, a journalist for Hindi-language broadcaster TV9, who filmed the video at the fair.
—Nikhil Choudhary (@NikhilCh_) September 4, 2022
Around 50 people were on board the 50-foot tall attraction and half of them were injured, Choudhary told Insider. He estimated that 16 women and children were hospitalized.
The ride had been running smoothly when the crash happened without warning, the journalist wrote in a message.
English-language local newspaper the Business Standard reported the same number of riders present. There have been no reports of fatalities as of Sunday evening.
The Hindustan Times reported that several children as young as 10 years old were being treated at Fortis Hospital, a medical facility near the fair.
Several outlets, including NDTV and the Hindustan Times, reported that there had been no ambulances on standby at the fair. Choudhary said he didn't see any emergency vehicles present at the time of the accident, but that ambulances arrived a few minutes after.
Fair organizers blamed a "technical issue" for the accident and said they would cooperate with police, per the Hindustan Times.
Mohali Police Deputy Commissioner Amit Talwar said authorities would launch an investigation and take "strict action," the outlet wrote. Police said the fair was supposed to end on Sunday but that organizers had been given an extension until September 11, per multiple outlets.
The Mohali police deputy commissioner's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.