Disneyland Paris: Cast Member Found Dead Inside Phantom Manor Haunted House Attraction
An investigation is ongoing in a tragic tale that took place this past weekend. A technician was found dead inside the Phantom Manor haunted house attraction at Disneyland Paris, and it is believed that the cast member had been electrocuted.
According to Deadline, the worker was found dead inside the theme park’s attraction on Saturday, and it is said that he was working on some lighting. While trying to fix some of the lighting fixtures, the cast member was apparently electrocuted on Saturday morning.
Patrick Maldidier is a union representative for Disneyland Paris, and he spoke with the French newspaper site Le Parisien about the situation. Maldidier said that the 45-year-old cast member was very popular with his co-workers, and he was one of those people who “always had a smile on his face.”
The Disneyland Paris Resort did issue a statement on the the death of the worker.
“We are truly saddened to learn of the passing of one of our Cast Members, and our hearts go out to his family and friends during this very difficult time.”
Police are investigating the situation even though it is truly believed that the cast member, whose name was not released, was electrocuted while working. Phantom Manor is set to remain closed until at least Wednesday while authorities look into things.
Disneyland Paris is seen as the top tourist attraction in Europe, as it brought in 14.2 million visitors in just 2014 alone. It isn’t the first death at the park, but it is the first one to happen in a number of years; the last one was in 2010.
In 2010, a contracted worker was cleaning inside the It’s a Small World attraction. BBC News reported that the 53-year-old man was cleaning and ended up falling into the water and became trapped underneath a boat in the attraction.
While cleaning, the attraction was turned on, and he fell under the boat, was trapped, and dragged underneath it. Others in the area were able to rescue him from being trapped, and the worker was taken by helicopter to the hospital. He died a short term later.
While not with a cast member or worker, there was another incident in 2013 where a 5-year-old boy was injured on the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. The Telegraph reported that the young boy named Iban fell out of the boat and into the water of the attraction.
Police said that the boy was with his father and lost his balance when the boat was arriving to the end of the attraction. The boy ended up falling and “found himself stuck under the boat.” His father and others reached in and were able to pull him out of the water to safety.
Further investigation revealed that the young boy was leaning back in the boat he was in when it was struck by another boat from behind. That’s when the accident happened, and the boy fell into the water. He ended up being stuck between the platform and the boat, which compressed his chest.
At the time, the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction was also closed so workers and safety crews could determine exactly how the accident happened and if anything needed to be changed to prevent it from happening again.
This latest accident at Disneyland Paris is quite tragic and a sad story for the cast member’s family, friends, and co-workers. Phantom Manor is expected to reopen on Wednesday, but that would be at the earliest, as the police need to finish their investigation into the death first.
[Image via Disney]
