BATON ROUGE, LA Investigators have failed to figure out what caused a roller coaster accident that killed a 21-year-old woman at Dixie Landin' in Baton Rouge, the state fire marshal said Friday.
Lindsay Zeno of Lafayette was killed when she fell from the Extreme Coaster at the amusement park on July 11.
'This was a tragic accident and we wanted to take whatever time necessary to be thorough and diligent in investigating the cause of the accident,' said Fire Marshal H. 'Butch' Browning.
However, he said, 'The office must officially report that the cause of the death is undetermined.'
Browning said the ride was engineered and manufactured by Mauer Sohne of Germany in 2000 and sold new to an amusement park in Great Britain. Dixie Landin' purchased the ride in 2007 and brought it to Baton Rouge.
The manufacturer and officials from the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety inspected the ride May 14 and found no problems, Browning said.
Browning said the probe, which also involved an amusement ride expert from California, failed to come up with a reason why Zeno fell. Investigators found no witnesses who could say whether the victim tried to adjust a security bar or locking mechanism.
Browning said that as a precaution, his office would require modifications to the ride, some of which were already being implemented at the time of the accident.
Zeno's parents have sued the park, claiming Dixie Landin' failed to properly inspect and maintain the roller coaster and failed to secure the locking mechanism necessary to hold Zeno in her seat. The lawsuit, filed July 27 in Baton Rouge, also contends the park's equipment was defective, causing the locking mechanism in her seat to fail. The park has not commented on the lawsuit.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
