Witness says woman expressed concern that she was not secured correctly in her seat.
Police have ruled out foul play as local media identified the woman who fell to her death while riding a 14-story roller coaster at a Six Flags amusement park in Arlington, Texas.
The Dallas Morning News and local TV station WFAA said the family of the woman who died has identified her as Rosy Esparza of Dallas. Relatives told the Dallas Morning News the accident occurred on her first visit to Six Flags Over Texas.
Arlington Police Sgt. Christopher Cook told the Associated Press there appears to have been no foul play in Friday's death.
Police say the Texas Department of Insurance, which approves amusement rides, is involved in investigating the accident. The Star Telegram in Fort Worth reported the coaster will remain closed until the end of the in-house investigation.
Park spokeswoman Sharon Parker confirmed that a woman died while riding the Texas Giant roller coaster — the tallest steel-hybrid coaster in the world — but did not specify how she was killed. However, witnesses told local media outlets that the woman fell.
John Putman told the Star-Telegram that he was in line awaiting his turn on the ride when the car from which the woman fell returned to the ground. Putman said a man and woman got out.
"They were screaming, 'My mom! My mom! Let us out, we need to go get her!' " Putman said.
Carmen Brown of Arlington was waiting in line as the victim was being secured in for the ride. She told The Dallas Morning News the woman had expressed concern to a park employee that she was not secured correctly in her seat.
"He was basically nonchalant," Brown said. "He was, like, 'As long as you heard it click, you're fine.' Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didn't feel safe. But they let her still get on the ride."
She said the victim fell out of the ride as it made a sudden maneuver.
"The lady basically tumbled over," she said. "We heard her screaming. We were, like, 'Did she just fall?'"
Contributing: Natalie DiBlasio; The Associated Press
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