Girl killed in Ferris wheel fall at NJ boardwalk

AP Photo/The Press of Atlantic City, Dale Gerhard

The Ferris wheel is seen at Morey's Mariner's Landing Pier on the Boardwalk Friday, June 3, 2011 in Wildwood, N.J.

WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) — An 11-year-old girl on a school trip to a Jersey shore amusement park died Friday when she fell 100 feet from a moving Ferris wheel.

Police Capt. Robert Regalbuto said Abiah Jones of Pleasantville was with her classmates from Pleasant Tech Academy when she fell from the ride at 12:30 p.m.

She was driven to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead about 45 minutes later.

A medical helicopter was initially called for, but paramedics at the scene, seeing how grave the girl's injuries were, decided not to wait, and took her to the hospital in an ambulance.

"I'd like to say how sorry we are for the incident that occurred here," said Will Morey, president and CEO of the Morey Organization, which has owned amusement parks at the Jersey shore since 1969. This was the first death of a patron in the history of the organization, he added.

A Wildwood police statement said the cause of the fall remains unknown. She fell from the upper half of the ride, about 100 feet.

he 156-foot-tall Ferris wheel is among rides at Morey's Mariner's Landing Pier. Both Morey's and police said the problem did not appear to be mechanical.

Morey said it appears Jones was alone in one of the car's passenger gondolas, which is secured with a double latch. The door of the car opens inward, making it difficult to climb out of, he said.

The girl's body was found in the passenger loading area of the ride on the boardwalk, leading authorities to believe she fell from near the top of the ride because that's the trajectory she would have followed as she fell, Morey said.

The popular park was packed with school children attending a special school-related promotional day called "Education Extravaganza."