UPDATE: Emergency calls from the Ohio State Fair after a ride broke apart described the severity of one victim's injuries.

The caller told a dispatcher that one person suffered a head injury and was unresponsive.

Dispatchers with Columbus Division of Fire received four calls after the amusement park ride called the Fire Ball broke apart at the Ohio State Fair just before 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

An 18-year-old man, Tyler Jarrell, of Reynoldsburg, was killed and seven others were injured as a result of the accident when the amusement ride fell apart. He was thrown high into the air and landed on the ground about 50 feet from the ride. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The other injured riders were transported to local hospitals.

"They're telling us at the gate the ride fell apart and there's multiple injuries there," the caller said. She described the ride as the "scrambler," and told paramedics to come through gate 3.

The other people injured are 36-year-old Tamika Dunlap, of Columbus, 22-year-old Jacob Andrews, of Pataskala, 42-year-old Russell Franks, 19-year-old Keziah Lewis, 18-year-old Jennifer Lambert, 19-year-old Abdihakim Hussein, all of Columbus, according to the State Highway Patrol. A 13-year-old boy was also injured. His family requested that his name be withheld.

Lambert is in critical condition at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center.

Two of the calls were from her. On her second call to dispatchers, she said people on the ride were still trapped and firefighters needed to bring extraction equipment.

The Fire Ball swings riders like a pendulum from side to side, reaching 40 feet above the ground while spinning riders at 13 revolutions per minute. The ride carries passengers in four-seat sections at the end of six spoke arms.

One man called and told dispatchers he was standing 30 feet away from the ride when the mechanical arm separated. He said at least four people were on the arm of the ride as it came apart.

"I'm just calling to let you all know," he said as he went on to describe some of the riders getting first aid on a golf cart and state troopers setting up partitions.

A dispatcher told him, "We've got numerous vehicles en route."

A woman called in to let paramedics know where to go. It was next to another ride called, "Alien Abduction." She said the Fire Ball, "busted and people went flying."





PREVIOUS COVERAGE: An 18-year-old man died and seven others were injured when an amusement ride at the Ohio State Fair broke apart Wednesday evening on the fair's opening day.

Battalion Chief Steve Martin, a spokesman for the Columbus Fire Division, said some of the victims were thrown from the Fire Ball ride during the incident at about 7:20 p.m.

One man was thrown high into the air and landed on the ground about 50 feet from the ride, Martin said. He was killed on impact.

Three other people — including another person seen flying from the ride — were in critical condition and four more were in stable condition, authorities said Wednesday night.

Three of the injured were taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center; the other four to Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center.

Gov. John Kasich said at a press conference Wednesday night that it's hard to imagine a family going to the Ohio State Fair "and then those calls come that there was a terrible tragedy, and somebody you love was involved."

He called it the worst tragedy in the history of the fair.

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Kasich ordered the other 71 rides at the fair shut down around 9 p.m., more than an hour after the incident. They will be re-inspected Thursday before being reopened, though a handful of rides near the Fire Ball will likely remain closed while the investigation continues. The state fair will open for all other activities as scheduled Thursday.

A man who was on the grandstand at the time of the incident told The Dispatch he heard a loud sound of metal cracking then looked and saw two men being thrown off the ride, one of them from up high.

The Fire Ball, manufactured by KMG, is billed as an "aggressive thrill" ride that swings riders like a pendulum from side to side, reaching 40 feet above the ground while spinning riders at 13 revolutions per minute, according to ride-enthusiast websites. The ride holds 24 passengers in four-seat sections at the end of six spoke arms.

In a video circulating on social media, it appears that an entire row of seats snapped off one of the spoke arms and fell to the ground as the ride began to swing upward. Some riders plunged to the ground with the seat section while at least two people were sent flying into the air, the video shows.

Officials said fair staff members worked to "offload" people from the Fire Ball and other rides as quickly as possible, but they said it took some time to do that.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture is responsible for inspecting the rides at the fair. Director David Daniels said the agency will investigate what occurred.

Michael Vartorella, chief inspector of amusement ride safety for the Agriculture Department, said the Fire Ball was inspected three or four times before the fair started.

He insisted that workers did not rush through inspections, though they worked long nights because of heavy rain and some flooding during the week leading up to the fair.

"We take this job very serious, and when we have an accident like this ... it hits us really hard," he said.

Vartorella said the ride is what is called a "spectacular piece," meaning it is brought in on multiple trucks and bolted together. The ride is inspected as it's assembled and again once it is up to make sure it is level and parts, such as electrical components and hydraulics, are working properly.

He said there were no red flags on this ride. The ride was approved for operation Wednesday; four rides were not allowed to operate for the fair's opening day Wednesday.

But Vartorella also said there are "no guarantees" because there could be mechanical or structural failures that can't be seen by the human eye.

Wednesday was opening day for the 164th state fair, one of the nation's largest, which attracts several hundred thousand visitors and runs through Aug. 6.

Vartorella said inspectors look at 4,300 pieces of equipment in Ohio at everything from fairs to water parks. He said inspectors look for problems with structure, operations and mechanical function to make sure the rides work properly and safely. Officials said inspectors will examine the rides Thursday and conclude "as soon as possible." The rides will reopen once inspectors are sure they're safe.

Dispatch Reporter Megan Henry contributed to this story.

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