Three people, one upside-down, trapped on county fair ride

Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Three people -- one dangling upside-down -- were stuck on a California county fair ride that apparently malfunctioned while in use.

Witnesses said a man was stuck hanging upside-down from a crane for about 40 minutes Wednesday night when a bungee jump ride at the Ventura County Fair apparently malfunctioned.

Two other people were trapped inside a steel box hanging from the crane high above the fair.

The dangling man, who give his name only as Roger, told witnesses he was near passing out when firefighters reached him with a ladder truck.

"I was only on the verge of passing out and he told me to go down slowly. He had me hooked onto him for a while," KABC-TV quoted the man as saying.

The two people in the steel box were trapped for more than an hour until rescuers were able to get them harnesses. The two men took turns using the harnesses to rappel to the ground on a rope-and-pulley system.

The cause of the ride's apparent 7:55 p.m. malfunction was unclear.

The county fair opened Wednesday and runs through Aug. 13.