Published: 15th July 2006 13:14 CET

Two wagons on one of the rollercoasters at the Liseberg amusement park in Gothenburg collided just after noon on Saturday.

According to SOS Alarm the accident happened on Lisebergbanan, a ride built on a hillside at the park. At 1pm an emergency operation was in process.
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Nine ambulances were sent to the scene and 15-20 injured people were taken to hospital.

"There don't seem to be any serious injuries, by which I mean no life-threatening injuries," said Rolf Persson at the Gothenburg emergency services to TT.

One of the wagons was stationary at the start point and passengers were in the process of climbing out when another wagon rammed into the back of it. The speed of the second wagon had declined but the collision was violent.

"Obviously there was a considerable crash," said Lasse Zagai, the duty manager at the park.

He refused to speculate on the cause of the accident before there is a technical investigation. Lisebergbanan runs automatically and the operator who watches over the ride is unable to stop the wagons manually.

"Normally there are sensors which measure how the wagons move," said Lasse Zagai.

The injured people have been taken to three different hospitals: Östra, Sahlgrenska and Mölndal, a police spokesman told TT.

"We have taken in five injured people at the three hospitals. So far we haven't had any serious injuries. But not everyone has come in yet," said Malin Lutz at Sahlgrenska hospital's press office.

"There are both children and adults among the injured," she said.

Police have established a coordination point outside Liseberg where the injured and their relatives can meet.

The Lisebergbanan rollercoaster ride is over 1,500 metres long and five wagons operate at speeds of up to 80km per hour. Each wagon carries 22 people.