'Heard a loud boom.' Kids fall from Ferris wheel at festival, Louisiana cops say

Mitchell Willetts, Miami Herald on Nov 2, 2025

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An investigation is underway after two girls were thrown from a Ferris wheel and injured at a festival in Louisiana, officials told news outlets.

The incident happened Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Harvest Festival in New Roads, Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff Rene’ Thibodeaux told WVLA.

Thibodeaux said the state Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating, the station reported.

Both of the girls were taken to hospitals, and one was flown to a hospital in Baton Rouge, according to WAFB. Officials have not commented on the conditions of the children.

Baton Rouge is about a 35-mile drive southwest from New Roads.

There were three girls riding inside one bucket on the Ferris wheel when witnesses say the bucket suddenly tipped, spilling two of the girls, both of whom are less than 13 years old, WBRZ reported.

“I heard like a body, just like something falling, I heard a loud boom,” festivalgoer Madison Fields told the outlet. “It was two girls, and one of the girls fell on her face, and she was really damaged.”

“It was sad and upsetting, like, because, what if that could have been me?” she added.

Video from the festival shared on Facebook shows police and witnesses tending to one of the girls, who appears to writhe in pain at the base of the Ferris wheel, while others help another rider out of the bucket.

The Ferris wheel and a slide beside it have been shut down while the state Fire Marshal’s Office investigates, WAFB reported.

Eddie Jones had just bought tickets to ride the Ferris wheel when he saw the two girls injured and bloody on the steel platform at the base of the ride, he told the station.

“I heard a girl scream, and I looked over, and the Ferris wheel car was kicked over. I don’t know how it got in that position, but it was stuck,” Jones said. “Yeah, I’ll probably never get on another Ferris wheel.”

McClatchy News reached out to the sheriff’s office and the fire marshal’s office for an update, but didn’t immediately hear back.

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