MIAMI
--
Two women were rescued after a ride got stuck in the air at the Miami-Dade County Fair on Tuesday afternoon.
Among the shouts of excitement at the Miami-Dade County Youth Fair came a cry for help just before 2 p.m.
"We see feet kicking and came out here -- oh my god," said witness Daniel Ybanz.
Shankia Tinsely, 18, and Megan Dewey, 20, were spinning on the Space Roller ride when, they said, it stopped suddenly.
"I thought they were just trying to scare us a little bit and I thought we were going to just go down, but then it just came to a screeching halt," Tinsely said.
Tinsely and Dewey were stuck nearly 100 feet in the air, hanging on their side.
"They would tell us to move our legs, basically, so we could keep our function in our legs," said Dewey.
"I was actually excited because I felt this is some type of moment here," Tinsely said.
As they laughed, Dewey's mother worried.
"Of course I was concerned. Any parent would be concerned," said Dewey's mother.
From their leg-numbing position, the two women watched as Miami-Dade Fire Rescue tried to reach them. From Sky 10 above, rescuers could be seen getting into a metal basket, apparently to be lifted to the trapped passengers.
"They tried to go up there and get them, but the fire, the lift -- it didn't reach all the way, so I don't know what they're going to do," Ybanz said.
After an hour of hanging, the ride operator was able to manually lower the women to the ground.
Once they were down, the firefighters opened the passengers' restraints and helped them off the ride.
Even after their adventure, Tinsely said she wants to go back into the air.
"I'm ready to go on some more," Tinsely said.
The Miami-Dade County Fair & Expo runs from March 25 to April 11.
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