Gyeongju World to close 5 days for safety inspections after string of ride accidents

Gyeongju World, which has seen a series of ride accidents in recent weeks, will temporarily close for five days to conduct a comprehensive safety inspection of its facilities.

The amusement park said it will suspend operations from Sunday through Thursday to carry out a thorough safety inspection of all facilities with an external specialist organization and to provide safety training for staff.

"We first offer our deepest apologies to our customers," a Gyeongju World official said. "We have decided on a temporary closure to conduct a company-wide facility safety inspection through an external specialist organization and to carry out employee safety training, with customer safety as our top priority."

Meanwhile, on Thursday an empty gondola on the park's Ferris wheel fell and struck two other gondolas carrying passengers in succession.

Then on Saturday morning, a roller coaster carrying 24 passengers came to a halt for about 10 minutes just before entering a steep descent section after a safety device was triggered.

All passengers were safely brought down to the ground by safety personnel, and Gyeongju city officials are investigating the circumstances of the incident.