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EL PASO, Texas (AP) — One teenage girl was killed and another was injured when they were ejected from a whirling ride at an El Paso church carnival.
The girls were at a parking lot carnival marking the annual Dia de los Ninos holiday at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church when they were hurled from a spinning ride called "Sizzler" just before 7 p.m. Friday. A 16-year-old girl hit a metal barricade and died a short time later at Del Sol Medical Center. A 15-year-old girl was taken to University Medical Center with injuries not thought to be life-threatening.
A third girl who also was on the ride had hooked her arms on a safety bar and was not ejected.
No identities have been released, and police Sgt. Enrique Carrillo says a cause hasn't been determined.
China Arevalo was selling snacks at a concessions booth when she heard a disturbance nearby. She heard that someone had fallen from one of the carnival rides, she said.
"There was a girl on the ground, and they were doing CPR to revive her" and the girl appeared to have regained consciousness, Arevalo told the El Paso Times. She noticed a large pool of blood on the ground from an injury to the back of the girl's head, she said.
"Sizzler" is a ride that whirls riders around a center pivot and also spins them in their seats. The ride is owned by Playtime Amusements Inc. in Las Cruces, New Mexico. A telephone call to the company was abruptly disconnected. An email message brought no immediate response.
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