Roller Coaster Strands 22

Firefighters safely rescued 22 people who were stuck for about two hours when a roller coaster stalled mid-ride in Phoenix. The cars stopped on a banked curve about 20 feet off the ground on the Desert Storm ride at Castles N' Coasters, CNN reports. "It was scary because we were sitting on the edge," one passenger said. "There were a lot of kids on there that were really terrified," said another, per KSAZ. "There was actually one kid that I was trying to hold onto because she was so small. She couldn't hold herself up." No one was injured, fire officials said.

A cinch rescue collar and pick-off harness was used to rescue each rider, the fire department said Saturday. "It was scary because we didn't go down one ladder, we had to jump from ladder to ladder," a 12-year-old boy said. At least 15 firefighters, using seven ladders, could be seen in fire department photos of the rescue. The Castles N' Coasters website challenges riders to "Test your senses and courage as you challenge the excitement of the vertical drops, spins, and flips of the awesome Desert Storm Roller Coaster." (More roller coasters stories.)