Thirteen people were rescued from the Ferris wheel at York’s Wild Kingdom on Saturday after a motor vehicle accident knocked out power to the York Beach area and the ride came to a halt, according to York Beach Fire and Rescue.
Capt. Dave Osgood of the York Beach Fire Department said the incident occurred about 3:30 p.m. He said employees of York’s Wild Kingdom released the brake on the ride and manually turned the wheel until all 13 people were able to get off. The fire department also assisted in the rescue of two people trapped in an elevator at a local hotel, Osgood said.
Osgood said the outage was caused by a car hitting a telephone pole on Cape Neddick Road. No injuries were reported.
York police Sgt. John Lizanecz said the driver of the car was arrested for possibly operating under the influence and has since posted bail.
As of 7:45 p.m., the power was still out, Lizanecz said.
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