Eight Texas high school students on a school-sponsored field trip spent hours stuck on a towering amusement ride after the Pleasure Pier’s Iron Shark roller coaster malfunctioned in Galveston, Texas. Rescue crews from the Galveston Fire Department used a long-ladder truck to rescue the students from the ride on Thursday.
A video of the rescue, captured by ABC News affiliate KTRK, shows rescuers reaching the stranded students in a ladder bucket and pulling them from the towering ride shortly after 5:21 p.m. In an ABC13 report on the incident, Houston ISD confirmed that the riders involved were district students and part of an organized field trip by the Energized for STEM Academy Middle School and the STEM Academy High School.
The district issued a statement that read in part, “We are grateful that all students, staff, and chaperones are safe. School administration is in direct contact with the families of all students who were on the trip.” The Iron Shark amusement ride is the tallest on the park and has a 100-foot vertical lift.
Landry’s Inc. owns Pleasure Pier on Galveston Island 50 miles from Houston and confirmed the malfunction in a statement issued on Thursday that read in part: “Our focus immediately shifted to the safety of our guests. Therefore, we contacted the Fire Department to assist, ensuring all guests were safely removed from the ride. A thorough inspection of the ride will take place before it is placed back in service.”
Galveston Fire Chief Mike Varela commented on the daring rescue in a press conference shortly afterward and commended his firefighters who worked for hours to rescue the students, telling reporters, “You should be talking to them, not me. Those guys were top notch today, on point, and got all eight down. I can’t say enough about them. They’re well trained, and they’re ready to go when called on.”
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.