Severed Spines, Electrocution & More! The Top 10 Worst Theme Park Accidents Exposed

A fun day at the amusement park can sometimes turn deadly! Amid the shocking news of the Walt Disney World gator attack, RadarOnline.com explores the most horrific theme park accidents to date.

An Iraq war veteran died in 2011 after he was flung from a roller coaster in Syracuse, New York. Sergeant James Hackemer, a double leg amputee, was just 29 when he was killed at the Darien Lake Theme Park. While investigators say that there were no mechanical issues with the Ride of Steel coaster, the cause of the accident remains unclear.

In May of this year, 11-year-old Elizabeth "Lulu" Gilreath was left severely injured after she was scalped by a pop-up carnival ride in her Omaha, Nebraska hometown. After falling out of her seat, her hair got caught in the spinning, teacup-style ride. Her mother and bystanders were forced to manually stop the attraction while the ride's operator ran from the chaos. She is expected to recover.

In 1984, eight teenagers died after a walk-though haunted house mysteriously caught on fire. While most people made it out of Six Flags Great Adventure's Haunted Castle ride safely, the teens were trapped inside and were burnt beyond recognition. An arsonist allegedly started the fire.

In another Six Flags in Kentucky, 13-year-old Kaitlyn LaIn another Six Flags in Kentucky, 13-year-old Kaitlyn Lassiter had her leg severed after a cable broke and wrapped around her neck and legs on Jun 21, 2007. The Superman Tower of Power, which dropped thrill-seekers 17 stories, somehow allowed a cable to take off one of her feet. Fortunately, surgeons were able to reattach it. ssiter had her leg severed after a cable broke and wrapped around her neck and legs on Jun 21, 2007. The Superman Tower of Power, which dropped thrill-seekers 17 stories, somehow allowed a cable to take off one of her feet. Fortunately, surgeons were able to reattach it.

A boy in Georgia once died after he hopped over a security fence to retrieve his hat at Six Flags Great Adventure. In June 2008, Asia Leeshawn Ferguson lost the hat while on Batman: The Ride . While in the restricted area, he was decapitated by a 50-mile-an-hour passing ride.

A 59-year-old British tourist, Keith Clarke, died shortly after visiting a Sea World in Orlando, Florida, in 2009. While snorkeling in the park's Discovery Cove, he cut his toe on a coral reef. Clarke, who suffered from a blood condition called hemophilia, died after his organs failed.

Kings Island in Mason, Ohio is allegedly haunted! On June 9, 1991, four people died after two separate incidents. In one, a man fell into a pond. After his friend and a park employee went in the water to help, all three were fatally electrocuted. Just an hour later, Candy Taylor, 32, flew off a high-flying spinning ride and died on impact.

Rosa Ayala-Ganna Esparza, 52, died in 2013 after park employees allegedly didn't heed her complaints that the ride's safety restraints weren't properly fastened. During the coaster ride, Esparza flew out of one of the cars and into the ride's "Honky Tonk Tunnel," nearly severing her body in half.

In 2007, a 52-year-old tourist broke his neck while riding the famous Cyclone roller coaster in Brooklyn, New York. During the ride's first 85-foot drop, Keith Shirasawa snapped his neck forward and fractured three vertebrae in his neck. He died not long after from his injuries.