Horror footage shows moment students rescued after dangling 100 feet

Eight students have been rescued after being stranded on a roller coaster 100 feet in the air for hours at an amusement park,

There’s almost no worse spot to be stuck on a coaster than right before the drop – hanging at its highest point.

For a group of unlucky Houston, US, students, that’s exactly the place they found themselves.

The Houston Independent School District kids were allegedly on a field trip organised by Energized for STEM Academy Middle School and STEM Academy High School, per ABC 13.

According to KHOU, the students were locked in their seats for hours above the city as the Iron Shark roller coaster of Galveston, Texas’ Pleasure Pier, malfunctioned just moments into their thrill-seeking ride.

In light of the ride stopping, the pier was subsequently evacuated as firefighters attended the scene with a huge extendable ladder to manually remove each person from the coaster via a harness.

The students were trapped for hours after the ride they were on malfunctioned at its 100-foot drop (Youtube/ KHOU 11)

Per the outlet, they were all safe and on the ground four hours later at around 8:30pm.

According to the Galveston Fire Department, who spoke about the incident on its Facebook page, the rescue mission was a huge success.

The post read: “Proud of our fire fighters who last night rescued eight people who were stranded on a roller coaster. They used a ladder truck to one-by-one remove each person in a safety harness. Thank you, GFD!”

Its Chief, Mike Varela also spoke on the event, with The Post reporting him as saying of the students and their health: “Of course they were shaken up from climbing that ladder down, being in that hot sun. They have been checked for dehydration and everyone seems to be doing pretty good.”

Per ABC 13, Landry's Inc., which owns Pleasure Pier, confirmed the issue, explaining in a statement: "Our focus immediately shifted to the safety of our guests. Therefore, we contacted the Fire Department to assist, ensuring all guests were safely removed from the ride. A thorough inspection of the ride will take place before it is placed back in service."

As for the trip organisers, they said in a statement to Houston Public Media that they are ‘grateful that all students, staff, and chaperones are safe’ in light of the incident, and that the School administration has been in ‘direct contact with the families of all students who were on the trip’.

It added: “We are thankful for the rescue efforts of the first responders and park personnel.”

The outlet also reported Terry Turney, chief operating officer of Pleasure Pier, as explaining why the rise stopped.

“The ride experienced a malfunction at its initial ascent, however, as designed, it immediately stopped to keep everyone safe,” Turney shared, noting that a ‘thorough inspection of the ride will take place before it is placed back in service’.