Mother, two daughters among 4 injured when Eagle Mountain Lake trolley fell 25 feet
TARRANT COUNTY, Texas - Four people were thrown from a trolley while it carried people down a cliff to the water at Eagle Mountain Lake on Saturday.
The Briar-Reno Fire Department said two women and two girls were injured when they were ejected.
One of the people onboard had life-threatening injuries, they are still hospitalized, but stable.
Three others had severe injuries, but are expected to survive.
First responders pulled the victims from a mangled trolley.
"They typically hold 2 to 4, typically an open top," said Briar-Reno Fire Chief Moses Druxman.
The victims were taking the mechanical lift from a home down to the boat dock about 70 feet below.
"They are on a track, a pulley system that brings them down," said Chief Druxman. "My understanding is they were there celebrating the holiday weekend, they were headed down to the bottom to the lake, hanging out with friends and family. On the way down, the trolley malfunctioned."
Officials say one of the injured is a mother and at least two of the others are her daughters. Among their injuries are broken bones, cuts and scrapes.
Investigators believe they fell about 25 feet.
"There’s the cable on it, we just actually took our safety off," said Susan Grey who lives next door.
Gray says they also have a trolley. A different style, but one that serves the same function.
"We got word because people thought it was us," said Gray. "We got a lot of calls and texts from people checking on us."
She says her family is in the process of replacing their safety cable. Gray says it's now something they're even more concerned about.
"We just got it checked out because we were scared of the same situation happening. Because they’re going straight down, so it is a very kind of scary situation," said Gray.
The community is praying for the victims to make a full recovery.
"In 15 years, I personally have not experienced a trolley accident. I’ve seen others here on the lake, but not necessarily a trolley," said Chief Druxman.
"Gosh, I just hope they fully recover and that they’re okay," Gray said.
Fire officials say the mother was the most severely injured. She was in critical condition when flown to a hospital, but the chief says all of the victims are now stable.
