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8 riders rescued after coaster stops

Posted at 1:12 PM, May 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-20 13:12:22-04

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Emergency personnel have rescued eight people from a new roller coaster at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington after it stopped on an upper area of track.

Officials say nobody was hurt. The last rider on the 120-foot-tall coaster was safely removed before dawn Saturday.

Six Flags spokeswoman Sharon Parker says officials will try to determine what triggered a safety feature that stopped coaster, called The Joker. The coaster had opened for the first time overnight.

The Arlington Fire Department was summoned around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. The last rider was taken off three hours later by firefighters using ladder trucks.

The park was open late for high school senior night.

Parker had no timetable on when the ride would reopen.

The ride is named after a DC Comics villain.

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