‘Blood-curdling scream’: Couple helps hold girl on roller coaster after seat belt allegedly fails

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) - A couple says they had to help secure a fellow roller coaster rider after the girl started screaming about her seat belt not working.

According to Chris and Cassie Evins, the incident happened earlier this month at Worlds of Fun when they were riding the Mamba coaster and heard screams from the seat behind them.

The couple said a girl’s seat belt had come undone during the ride’s first hill.

“We get on the roller coaster and the very first hill, the girl sitting behind my wife just lets out this blood-curdling scream, like I’ve never heard before,” Chris Evins said. “I assumed it was her first time on the ride, but then she said her seat belt came undone.”

The Evins said they immediately reached over to help keep her inside the ride.

“I had looped my arm underneath her lap bar, which had a pretty big gap between her and the lap bar. So at this point, I’m seeing a huge space, no seat belt. I looped my arm underneath the lap bar, and I grabbed a hold of her wrist. My wife was pushing down on her legs,” Chris Evins said.

As season ticket holders familiar with the Mamba, the couple said they knew the ride’s layout and anticipated the upcoming hills and turns.

“As we crested each hill or as we started to go up to the top, I recognized that it was going to lift her out of her seat. So I kind of shifted our positions to, instead of holding her, to push down on her whole body to keep her from coming out of the seat while we’re going over those hills,” Chris Evins said.

The couple said they managed to keep the rider secure until the ride stopped.

After reporting the incident, the Evins said management assured them the ride was closed for inspection for the remainder of the evening.

On Thursday, a Worlds of Fun spokesperson confirmed it shut the ride down immediately after the incident, with a team inspecting it thoroughly before reopening later that evening.

The park said the Mamba has a multi-layered restraint system and has operated safely since the incident.

“The ride has undergone a comprehensive safety review, and we have implemented modifications requested by the fire marshal to ensure it meets or exceeds all applicable safety standards before it reopens to guests,” a park spokesperson shared.

“My whole thought after the incident is, what if it had been somebody else in our seats? What if it were others, her friends? You know, they could have had a drastically different outcome,” Chris Evins said.

The couple said they became separated after the ride and did not get a chance to speak with the girl. But they are trying to connect with her family.