Nine hurt as stairs collapse at Irish theme park’s House of Horrors attraction

Nine visitors to one of Ireland’s top tourist attractions have been taken to hospital after stairs collapsed at a House of Horrors. The accident happened during a Halloween-themed event at Tayto Park near Ashbourne in Co Meath. It is understood stairs gave way at the attraction. There were no details of the injuries sustained, but the park said the nine people were taken to hospital as a “precautionary measure”. Health and safety officials have started an investigation.

All of a sudden there was a massive huge crash and bang. We were at the bottom of the stairs and they just collapsed on front of us. It was wooden. It came straight down to the ground along with the people on it.

One park visitor

The park is themed on Ireland’s famous crisp brand and opened in 2010. The incident happened on the first night of its special “after dark” events in the run-up to Halloween. It invited visitors to “enter the terrifying House of Horrors - Will you survive?” Tayto Park said: “The Tayto Park emergency plan was immediately put in place and the emergency services attended the scene. Nine people were transported to hospitals in the city as a precautionary measure to assess their injuries.”

The management of Tayto Park will co-operate fully with the investigation as the safety of our guests is paramount.

Tayto Park statement

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