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“I’m definitely still in shock that it happened,” a witness by the name of Ivan said.Thursday was supposed to be a regular night out on the town for Ivan and his friends. They decided to check out the new Free Fall ride at ICON Park. Ivan, who decided not to go on the ride, had his cell phone out to record video of his friends’ reactions. RELATED: Teen dies after falling from ride at ICON ParkHe ended up capturing the ride in its entirety including before it took off, during the drop and what happened immediately afterward. Ivan said he did not even realize that 14-year-old Tyre Sampson fell during the exact moment that it happened since his eyes were fixed on his friends. “When I heard that he was 14 years old, my heart sank,” Ivan said. “Literally, I’m heartbroken about it.”Ivan said his friends were just two seats away from Tyre. RELATED: Father, coach of teen who fell to death on Orlando’s ICON Park ride speak out“This could have been one of my friends that it happened to,” he said. “It’s not what you would expect from a ride in the heart of Orlando. We’re known for our amusement parks, for our thrill rides.”It is still under investigation how the boy fell according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. Ivan said there were red flags before the ride even took off. In his video, you can see one of his friends question the ride restraints. “Why doesn’t this have the little clicky click? The seatbelt,” his friend asked a ride employee. Ivan said she was asking about an additional seatbelt. RELATED: Deadly ICON Park accident: Investigation into Free Fall reveals ride lacks seatbelts, has unique safety measures“In most rides, you have your harness that pulls down on you. But you also have the additional secondary seatbelt,” he said. “This does not have that. And it’s really concerning especially being a new ride not to have that.”About 30 seconds after Tyre falls, ride employees, ask each other about the boy’s harness. “Did you check him?” one employee asks her coworkers. The other employees respond to her that they did check his harness and that the light was on. Ivan said each seat has a light that indicates if the harness is in place. Ivan said his prayers go out to the family. RELATED: ICON Park Free Fall: history of the tallest free-standing drop tower“The reason why I posted the video is to highlight those safety concerns. I really hope that the company takes a step back and kind of assess the issues and really takes a second look at safety procedures,” he said.
ORLANDO, Fla. —
“I’m definitely still in shock that it happened,” a witness by the name of Ivan said.
Thursday was supposed to be a regular night out on the town for Ivan and his friends. They decided to check out the new Free Fall ride at ICON Park.
Ivan, who decided not to go on the ride, had his cell phone out to record video of his friends’ reactions.
RELATED: Teen dies after falling from ride at ICON Park
He ended up capturing the ride in its entirety including before it took off, during the drop and what happened immediately afterward.
Ivan said he did not even realize that 14-year-old Tyre Sampson fell during the exact moment that it happened since his eyes were fixed on his friends.
“When I heard that he was 14 years old, my heart sank,” Ivan said. “Literally, I’m heartbroken about it.”
Ivan said his friends were just two seats away from Tyre.
RELATED: Father, coach of teen who fell to death on Orlando’s ICON Park ride speak out
“This could have been one of my friends that it happened to,” he said. “It’s not what you would expect from a ride in the heart of Orlando. We’re known for our amusement parks, for our thrill rides.”
It is still under investigation how the boy fell according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Ivan said there were red flags before the ride even took off. In his video, you can see one of his friends question the ride restraints.
“Why doesn’t this have the little clicky click? The seatbelt,” his friend asked a ride employee.
Ivan said she was asking about an additional seatbelt.
“In most rides, you have your harness that pulls down on you. But you also have the additional secondary seatbelt,” he said. “This does not have that. And it’s really concerning especially being a new ride not to have that.”
About 30 seconds after Tyre falls, ride employees, ask each other about the boy’s harness.
“Did you check him?” one employee asks her coworkers.
The other employees respond to her that they did check his harness and that the light was on. Ivan said each seat has a light that indicates if the harness is in place.
Ivan said his prayers go out to the family.
RELATED: ICON Park Free Fall: history of the tallest free-standing drop tower
“The reason why I posted the video is to highlight those safety concerns. I really hope that the company takes a step back and kind of assess the issues and really takes a second look at safety procedures,” he said.