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Rhino Rally accident hurts 2 riders
By ANGELA MOORE
© St. Petersburg Times, TAMPA -- Rhino Rally, the new Busch Gardens ride touted for months on billboards and nationally televised ads, closed indefinitely Tuesday night after an accident sent two people to the hospital. The 18-passenger Land Rover that carries guests through the ride tipped onto its side, injuring Saul Soto, a 23-year-old Orlando resident, and 16-year-old Deidre Shellman of Tampa. Other passengers suffered bumps and bruises, but did not wish to be taken to area hospitals, said Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade. A few animals were nearby the tipped vehicle, but not close enough to cause problems, a Busch Gardens spokesman said. Soto suffered from pain on his right side and neck pain and was being treated Tuesday night at University Community Hospital. Deidre, who had gone to Busch Gardens with her sister Tuesday, was undergoing X-rays Tuesday night at the hospital, her father said. "She was in a lot of pain," said her father, Nelson Shellman. "Her back was hurting, and her head hurt." Rhino Rally, with a $20-million price tag, is the most expensive ride ever at the 42-year-old Tampa theme park. Although it's designed to seem like a rough-and-tumble safari race through the African veld and a flash flood, it's actually a highly technical ride more intricately planned than a roller coaster, Busch Gardens officials said at its opening. But around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, something went wrong. Gerard Hoeppner, a spokesman for Busch Gardens, said one of the Land Rovers rolled over onto its side as it was leaving the rhino habitat, heading toward the crocodile area. "Our zoo staff was on scene in minutes and moved to bring the animals into night quarters," Hoeppner said. Zoo staff members are in radio contact with Rhino Rally drivers at all times, Hoeppner said. Since its May opening, Rhino Rally has been subject to glitches and operational delays, so many that the ride is operating at just two-thirds its expected capacity, park officials said last week. Lines run as long as 90 minutes. But Hoeppner stressed that all glitches prior to Tuesday night's accident had to do with the flash-flood portion of the ride, not the land portion. "Those had nothing to do with this," Hoeppner said, adding that the ride has been independently inspected and tested many times. Rhino Rally, whose debut drew media from across the nation and countries such as Brazil and Germany, now faces another round of tests. Deidre, the injured teenager, suggested to her parents that it was the driver's fault that the Rhino Rally vehicle tipped over. "She said the guy who was driving was acting goofy, and he made a sharp turn," Nelson Shellman said. Hoeppner said the ride will remain closed, "until we're 100 percent confident that this incident will never happen again." Wade, the Fire Rescue spokesman, said he and his kids enjoyed Rhino Rally when they rode a couple of weeks ago. "It was pretty cool," Wade said. "Once they get it fixed, I'll go on it again." - Staff writer Mike Brassfield contributed to this report.
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Headlines From the Times local news desks Howard Troxler |
