A bad week for theme parks: deaths, crashes, crimes and even a typhoon

At the peak of the summer vacation season, theme parks in California, across the United States and around the world have suffered a seemingly endless slew of bad news.

* A 38-year-old man died after experiencing breathing trouble on the Firehawk coaster at Kings Island in Ohio. (Screamscape)

* Firefighters rescued 28 people stuck on the Invertigo coaster at California’s Great America in Santa Clara. State investigators shut down the ride for two months following the mishap.

* A Walt Disney World actor who fell and broke his neck on stage during a mock sword fight with Jack Sparrow died of complications. (Orlando Sentinel)

* A grandfather was convicted of groping the breasts of a woman playing Minnie Mouse at Walt Disney World. Photo evidence. (Orlando Sentinel)

* Twenty riders were injured when two trains collided on the Big Dipper wooden coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the U.K. (CoasterForce)

* Typhoon Morakot delayed the grand opening of the fourth Happy Valley theme park in Shanghai.

Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland. Follow Funland on Twitter and Facebook.

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times staff writer

Photo: Firefighters rescue Invertigo riders. Credit: Associated Press

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 1:27 pm by Brady MacDonald and is filed under Asia, California, California’s Great America, China, Europe, Family & Kids, Florida, Great Britain, Magic Mountain, Northern California, Orange County, San Francisco, Southern States, Theme Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.