3 Hurt on Cinco de Mayo Ride

Three young boys were injured Saturday afternoon when a Cinco de Mayo carnival ride carrying a dozen young passengers tipped on its side outside the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, authorities said.

The children, ages 7, 6 and 5, were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment of back pain, scrapes and bruises, said Lisa Derderian, a public information officer for the Pasadena Fire Department.

The accident occurred about 2:45 p.m. when the Kite Flyer tipped, possibly because of a sinkhole, Derderian said.

Ten boys and two girls were aboard the ride, which features surfboard-like seats in which riders lie flat facing forward and which spins at an angle to lift passengers 20 feet in the air. When the ride hit the ground and stalled, it left six riders at the bottom and six stuck 15 feet in the air, Derderian said.

“I heard a lot of people screaming and saw people rushing to the scene,” said Joe Juarez, 36, who was enjoying refreshments with his family about 100 feet away when the accident occurred. “It was loud. You could hear the ride crashing into some gates.”

A paramedic team on bicycles, which was stationed at the event, responded within a minute, Derderian said.

The six children at the bottom were immediately removed. A total of 50 firefighters responded to the accident, including an urban search and rescue team that first shored up the ride, then propped up ladders to extricate the six trapped riders, who were stuck for about half an hour.

“I think they remained extremely calm,” Derderian said. “The firefighters were there right away, trying to keep them calm and keep the parents calm. They [the firefighters] wanted to be very meticulous about the way they came down.”

Three of the children rescued from the top of the ride were sent to two local hospitals -- a 7-year-old-boy with back pain and 5- and 6-year-old boys with bruises and scrapes. The remaining nine children were assessed at the scene for emotional and physical trauma and released to their parents, Derderian said. She would not name the children who were hospitalized or what hospitals they went to.

The carnival, which ends today, went on uninterrupted.

The Kite Flyer, along with all other mechanical rides, will be closed today so investigators can survey the scene, Derderian said.

The ride’s owner, Paul Maurer of Paul Maurer’s Shows, did not return a phone call Saturday. His brother, Donald Maurer, a company employee, was reached by phone and declined to comment.

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Times staff writers Carla Hall and Hugo Martin contributed to this report.