David Sager

Biography

INDOOR COASTER DERAILS, KILLS THREE IN CANADA. Edmonton, Alberta (AP) -- The operators of an indoor mall where a roller coaster accident left three dead and 19 injured or in shock said Sunday the amusement park section would remain closed pending an investigation. The four-line statement on the Saturday night accident of the Mindbender ride, billed as the world's largest indoor roller coaster, was issued by the West Edmonton Mall's Fantasyland Management. It said the entire amusement park section would remain closed until an investigation of the crash by "appropriate authorities" was completed. Mall spokesmen were not available Sunday. The accident occurred when the last car of the roller coaster lurched off the track and slammed into a concrete pillar at about 10 p.m. Twelve passengers stranded 33 feet above the floor were rescued with the use of ropes, witnesses said. The fatalities were: DAVID SAGER, 24. TONY MANDRUSIAK, 24. CINDY SIMS, 21. They said the four yellow cars on the Mindbender were rushing into the third and final loop when there was a roar of screeching metal. "We heard screaming, turned around and there were sparks flying everywhere," said SHAWN McINTYRE, 19, of Edmonton, who was in the mall, an 800-store complex where the three-month-old roller coaster was a featured attraction. "Then I saw one body flying," she said. "One girl looked like her skull cap was missing. We were right there and checked her pulse and I yelled for them to get somebody up here."

In June 1986, a wheel sheared off the last car on the train of the Mindbender and the train crashed at high speed into a concrete pillar killing three of the ride's occupants. Since then the ride has had several safety improvements including more routine maintenance checks and three emergency brake sections added to the track. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxyland

Sources

• Chronicle Telegram Elyria Ohio 1986-06-16