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By Elisha Fieldstadt
Sixteen people, including children, were rescued after spending hours on a SeaWorld San Diego gondola that was functioning poorly Monday night.
The San Diego Fire Department was called aboard the Bayside Skyride, which crosses Mission Bay at 19:20.
The carousel, which carried 16 people in five cars, suddenly stopped and the SeaWorld engineers could not restart it. At least seven children were among those stuck.
"We were stuck in our lives and we did not know if we were about to fall or what was happening," said Jonathan Sherr, who was accompanying his son.
According to fire officials, crews began taking people down on boats below the crossing about two hours after the start of the operation. The last two people were saved only four hours after the start of the race.
San Diego Fire Department spokesman, José Ysea, said the crew members "were basically pushing back the wires" to reach the people in the gondola cars. Nobody was injured during the rescue, officials said.
A statement from SeaWorld said the trip had stopped due to an "unusual wind gust". Sherr said the gusts of wind rattled cables and cars.
"Honestly, we were just prepared for the worst," Sherr said. "Have you ever seen the" Final Destination "series? It's what passed us by the head."
Sherr said that at the beginning, communication with park staff was limited.
"We received very vague answers from ride operators, who refused to contact us with the supervisor and told us that there was no supervisor in the team" , he said, adding that he and his son "froze" during the ordeal.
SeaWorld's statement stated that each gondola had a blanket for guests, with which park employees communicated via an intercom.
The statement said the ride would be inspected before it reopened.
Rescue officials and the SeaWorld press release said first responders are training each year in the park to deal with a situation similar to the one that occurred on Monday.
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