Five hurt in fairground ride collapse

A 24-year-old woman received serious spinal injuries in last night's accident at Melford Hall, Long Melford, Suffolk, said a police spokeswoman.

Paramedics said the four other victims - including one who suffered abdominal injuries - were a 16-year-old boy, a 20-year-old woman and two girls, aged 16 and 14.

Police said two people were freed by firefighters after a Hellraiser ride - a ground level spinning machine - collapsed shortly before 9pm.

An ambulance service spokesman said: "The ride appeared to have either gone off its rail or off its central hinge.

"There were about 30 people on the ride when it came to a sudden halt.

"One of the injured is being treated for back injuries, another for abdominal injuries and the rest had cuts and bruises.

"We treated a number of other people for shock at the scene.

"There was quite a bit of hysteria among the crowd when it happened. A lot of young teenage girls were there and they were screaming."

Andrew Hagger, one of the event organisers, said the fairground attraction was part of the 39th Big Night Out - an annual event at Melford Hall attended by about 10,000 people.

Police said they were investigating along with the Health and Safety Executive. Witnesses spoke of their shock.

Danielle Smith, 16, from Great Cornard, Suffolk, said: "I was walking up to the Hellraiser. It was going really fast and we were wondering whether we should go on it because it looked really good.

"Then all of a sudden it was like the cars just crashed into it. It stopped and one car got smashed between two others.

"There were about three cars which crashed into each other. I heard somebody scream and then everyone started going over to see what had happened."

Katherine Bransby, 16, Lavenham, Suffolk, said: "It was really frightening. It was going really fast.

"There was lots of screaming. The fireworks were going off at the time and it seemed quite a while before the ambulances came.

"The police came and closed the rides down and we wandered off. Just before the crash you could see it was going really fast and there was like a groaning noise.

"There was lots of screaming but I think that was because people were screaming as the ride went round.

"It was very scary and we didn't want to go on any more rides after that."

Another eyewitness said: "We were watching the fireworks when someone told what had happened but two of our friends - a boy and a girl - were on the ride. "I think they're both aged 14. We spoke to them afterwards. The girl was crying and she said, 'I cannot believe I was on that ride. It was really scary. The boy got his head cut although I don't think he had to go to hospital'."

Melford Hall, an Elizabethan house, is a National Trust property that stands beside the River Chad.