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LONDON (AP) — The owner of Britain's Alton Towers amusement park has accepted responsibility for a roller coaster crash that left five people seriously injured.
Two victims had to have legs amputated after two cars on the Smiler ride collided in June. An investigation found that an operator had overridden the ride's governing computer system.
Merlin Entertainments, which owns the park 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of London, entered a guilty plea at a hearing Friday.
Lawyer Simon Antrobus said the company accepted that "additional reasonable and practicable measures could have been taken to guard against the safety risk that arose on the day."
Judge Jack McGarva told Merlin it faces a large fine.
The Smiler had been shut down twice before the crash because of technical or mechanical problems.
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