The Port Aventura (Tarragona) attraction in which 14 people were injured this Sunday is advertised as a roller coaster intended for children, although adults can also ride it. Tomahawk was inaugurated in March 1997 along with Stampida, an attraction with which it intersects and in which a few months after its premiere a man lost his life when he was thrown from the van in which he was traveling.
More than a decade and a half after that tragic event, the same area of ??the resort, located in the Far West, is once again in the news due to a serious incident caused by the fall of a tree, caused by the strong wind that was blowing in the area. at 11:25 in the morning. According to Port Aventura sources, the attraction had passed the internal safety inspection before opening its doors to the public this Sunday and did not derail after being hit by branches that fell on one of the cars. However, this has not prevented 14 people traveling on the attraction from being injured, two of whom are in critical condition.
The park assures that what happened is an event completely unrelated to the operation and maintenance of its attractions, “which meet the highest safety standards and are subjected to rigorous daily reviews.” It so happens, however, that at the time of the accident, Civil Protection had activated an alert for strong gusts of wind, exceeding 100 kilometers per hour in the south of Catalonia, so the venue had decided to close some attractions as a precaution. , but not the Tomahawk.
To ride the attraction, whose name refers to the war ax with which the indigenous people defended their lands when the settlers arrived in the Far West, a minimum height of 1.05 meters and a maximum of 1.85 meters is required. During the route, in which the tracks intertwine with those of Stampida, the traveler faces very sharp 180-degree turns and a very steep first drop. The duration of each trip is approximately 1 minute and 10 seconds and it reaches a maximum speed of 48.3 km/hour.
This is not the first time that Tomahawk has been the scene of a serious accident. In May 2009, an operator carrying out maintenance work died after being run over by a truck, an incident that the company disassociated from a possible malfunction of the facility.
