The young man had been enjoying the evening with his family when the accident occurred. The ride, described as a spinning chair game, broke while in operation, leading to the fatal fall. The victim’s brother, who was on the same ride, described the harrowing moment: “The person in charge changed our positions and told us the ride would start slow and then go faster. I felt my seat coming loose and told my brother. Suddenly, I was on my back, and my brother wasn’t next to me. I was holding on to the metal frame, but my brother was thrown out and hit his head. This all happened right in front of our other brother and our mother.”
The 58-year-old owner of the amusement park was arrested by police, and a preliminary investigation is underway by the Kassandreas police department. The operator, who had initially evaded authorities, turned himself in on Tuesday afternoon.
Mayor Chalkia emphasised that the amusement park did not have the necessary operating licence, stating that the responsibility for certification and licencing of such facilities lies with the Ministry of Development. Speaking on ERT, she clarified that municipalities are not responsible for issuing permits for amusement parks. “The Ministry of Development is responsible for certifying and licencing these machines. They must follow procedures and receive ISO and HACCP certifications. The municipality’s role is simply to check if the business has notified the appropriate authorities, which in this case, it had not,” she explained.
She added that the municipality had already initiated the process of imposing fines on the park for operating without the required notification. “We were in the process of imposing monetary sanctions. If the fines are imposed, the business owner will be summoned to explain, and the premises will be sealed,” Chalkia concluded.
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