Gondola falls, hits car with 5 riders at Gyeongju World theme park

A gondola car fell from a large Ferris wheel at Gyeongju World, a theme park in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, on Thursday.

According to Gyeongju World, the accident occurred at around 11:20 a.m. Thursday when a gondola car on the park's large Ferris wheel, called Time Rider, derailed and fell from its track.

The fallen gondola was empty at the time, but it struck another car carrying five riders as it came down.

The five were taken to a hospital for treatment but were not seriously injured.

Around noon — shortly after the accident — posts saying "the Gyeongju World Ferris wheel fell" began spreading on social media platforms including X, formerly Twitter.

Photos made public showed one gondola car hanging off the lower section of the Time Rider, tilted and off its track.

Gyeongju World immediately suspended all Time Rider operations after the accident and took safety measures.

The park said it has contacted the Swiss manufacturer that built the ride to investigate the cause, and plans to identify the exact cause and put measures in place to prevent a recurrence.