Busch Gardens roller coaster stalls mid-ride

Florida firefighters were called to Busch Gardens to remove 16 passengers stuck on a roller coaster that stopped in the middle of its track, officials said. The Cheetah Hunt halted about 60 feet in the air in the middle of its track Wednesday, stranding passengers at a 30-degree angle, the Tampa (Fla.) Tribune reported. The ride operator was unable to coax the cars back to the loading station, so Tampa Fire Rescue was called to the scene. Since the cars were at a 30-degree angle on their sides, the removal of passengers using a bucket truck was a bit tricky, said Tampa Fire Rescue special operations chief Emilio Salabarria. "We were able to put some nice harness on them before we moved them and got them onto the bucket and lowered them down to the ground," he said. The roller coaster stalled about 2:30 p.m. EST and the last passenger was removed from the ride by 5:48 p.m., the Tribune reported. There were no injuries.