Leah Washington, 17, has leg amputated after being seriously hurt in rollercoaster crash at theme park

Lawyers for three of the four people who were seriously injured in a rollercoaster crash last week at Alton Towers have welcomed an announcement by the theme park’s corporate owner that it takes “full responsibility” for those injured.

As it emerged that a teenager who was among those hurt has had part of her leg amputated, lawyers for her and two others said they would be meeting the owners of Alton Towers this week to discuss the early release of money.

Leah Washington, 17, had her left leg amputated above the knee, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS trust said on Monday. Washington also fractured her hand in the crash on the Smiler ride at the Staffordshire theme park last Tuesday.



Alton Towers to partially reopen as litigation over rollercoaster crash begins Read more

Her boyfriend, 18-year-old Joe Pugh, sustained two broken knees and extensive hand injuries in the crash, the hospital said.

The third victim being treated by the trust, 20-year-old Vicky Balch, remains in a serious but stable condition. The hospital said Balch’s family had asked that no more details be given. Earlier reports had said both her legs were crushed in the accident.

Merlin Entertainments, which owns Alton Towers, said in a statement that it accepted “full responsibility” for the crash and it would provide compensation for all 16 people injured.

A spokeswoman for Merlin Entertainments said the company had written to the injured and the letters were hand delivered by Alton Towers representatives over the weekend.

She added: “We absolutely recognise what a difficult time this is for everyone, especially those who have been so seriously injured, and we have tried to do this in a way that is both sensitive and appropriate.

“Irrespective of the outcome of the current investigations into the causes of the accident, in these letters we have accepted full responsibility to those who had been injured in the accident and confirmed that we will ensure that compensation will be provided to them.”

Washington, Pugh and Balch are all being treated at Royal Stoke University hospital. The fourth person seriously hurt in the crash, Daniel Thorpe, a 27-year-old assistant hotel manager from Buxton in Derbyshire, was taken to a hospital in Coventry.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Alton Towers reopens to the public for the first time since Tuesday’s rollercoaster accident

Alton Towers partially reopened on Monday morning, though the £18m Smiler ride will be closed “for the foreseeable future” on the orders of the Health and Safety Executive, which on Friday moved the two carriages involved in the crash to its laboratory in Buxton for further investigation.

A whole area of the theme park, the X-Sector, where Smiler is based, remained cordoned off.



The hospital released brief statements from the families of Washington and Pugh. David Washington, Leah’s father, said he wanted to thank emergency teams at the scene and hospital staff “who saved Leah’s life”.

He said: “Leah has suffered a life-changing injury and now has many months of rehabilitation ahead of her. We have [released the statement] to put people’s minds at rest and we would also ask everyone to respect Leah’s privacy as she undergoes this rehabilitation.”

Simon Pugh, Joe’s father, said: “I would like to thank our friends and family for their support. We would also like to thank the staff at the hospital who have been very accommodating, have been lovely to us and have protected our privacy.”

Nick Varney, the chief executive of Merlin Entertainments, said: “We are deeply saddened by the news about Leah and all our thoughts are with her and her family. We cannot undo the events of last week but everyone in the company and at Alton Towers is determined to do all we can to provide appropriate support to those who were injured and their families.”





Facebook Twitter Pinterest Members of the public arrive at Alton Towers as the theme park reopens after the rollercoaster crash. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

The first visitors to Alton Towers since the accident expressed confidence in the theme park’s safety on Monday.

TV news crews and photographers were on hand to film visitors as they entered the park. Just inside, red-coated workers were handing out free tickets. “It’s just a thank you for coming back so soon,” said one.

A spokeswoman for Alton Towers told the Guardian: “We want to keep it low key for the customers and the staff coming back to work.”

On a day of cloud and sunny spells, the theme park seemed quieter than might have been expected for this time of year. Queues for rides were short: the Guardian’s reporter at Alton Towers waited no longer than 15 minutes to get on the most popular attractions. Other rides appeared to be operating at less than full capacity.

Jenni Cheng, 25, a cleaning supervisor from Toxteth, Liverpool, had come for a reunion with two old schoolfriends. The trio had been coming to Alton Towers every year since they were children.

Cheng said she had been looking forward to their trip, despite the accident. “We only meet up once a year, the three of us, so we were worried that it wouldn’t be open,” she said. “We do understand that there has been an accident, but we’ve been here loads of times before and there’s never been anything, so it hasn’t worried us.”

All three were disappointed that the Smiler was closed. None were afraid they might be the victims of an accident. “I do think the safety standards would go up a lot higher now, higher than it was before,” Cheng said.

Anna Winn, 25, added: “It’s really, really horrible what’s happened, but it’s one accident in … how many times does that ride go round a day?”

Winn said she was confident that the rides were safe. “We arrived fairly early and we could see all the test ones going round. What will they have been doing for the past few days? You know that they will have just been checking everything, so the rides that are going today are probably the safest they’ve been in a very long time.”



Namrah Ghafoor, 23, from Bury, Greater Manchester, was with a friend walking through the Katanga Canyon section of the theme park. She said they were having a great day. “We were a little bit disappointed that the big rides were closed, but they gave us an extra ticket so we’re fine with that.”



This week, Alton Towers’ legal team are expected to meet lawyers acting for Balch, who underwent surgery at the weekend.

Merlin Entertainments, which has already lost a reported £3m since closing Alton Towers last Tuesday, could face a large legal bill because of the accident, which came as millions of thrill-seekers plan visits to theme parks over the busy summer holiday season.