La Ronde worker dies at amusement park

The Vampire ride is one of the top attractions at La Ronde. (Image laronde.com)

MONTREAL - Ambulance workers were called to La Ronde Friday afternoon to respond to a call made at 1:25 p.m. Friday only to find that a male worker, 67, had died at the amusement park.

The man died almost immediately after being struck by a roller coaster.

The death was greeted by shock and sadness. He was pronounced dead almost immediately from head injuries.

The ride was subsequently closed and the park issued a statement vowing to investigate the event.

The worker had entered a restricted area but it was unclear why he was in the locked-off area.

"Our thoughts are with the family," said La Ronde representative Catherine Tremblay at an impromptu press conference late Thursday afternoon. "We do not know why the employee was in the locked, restricted zone."

Maintenance at the park is performed by about 60 workers for five hours every day before the park opens. No other maintenance work is meant to be undertaken apart from those times.

Quebec's Workers Health and Safety Board (CSST) has begaun an investigation to determine what happened.

Police have acknowledged that there's a chance that the death was an act of suicide.

Colleague and union leader Michel Parent doubted that thesis and suggested instead that the victim might have been attempting to help someone who had dropped an item from the ride and asked for help in retrieving it.

Several onlookers were treated for shock after having apparently witnessed the accident.