Child injured after falling from carnival ride at Taste of Antioch, rides shut down, authorities say

ANTIOCH, Ill. (WLS) -- A child was injured after falling from a carnival ride at Antioch's Taste of Summer event Sunday afternoon, Antioch police said.

Antioch Police and Fire Departments responded to the scene in downtown Antioch around 2:40 p.m., where they discovered an injured child who appeared to have been thrown from one of the carnival rides.

The 10-year-old boy was flown from Antioch to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, initially in critical condition, police said. The boy was later reported to be in stable condition at the hospital.

The city of Antioch continues to work with state inspectors to determine what went wrong.

"The carnival was packed, and so a lot of people experienced seeing it," said Charles Smith, Commander of Operations for the Antioch Police Department. "It's a traumatic event for our community."

Investigators were seen at the festival Sunday evening assessing the underwater-themed amusement park spin ride.

Antioch police said the 10-year-old was thrown from the ride while it was in motion.

"I feel sorry for the kid and the parents that have to go through this," concerned parent Ronald Hipolito said. "No one should go through this. No one at all."

Hipolito recalled when his wife and son had issues onboard the same carnival ride on Thursday.

"My wife said that she had to stop the ride because my youngest son felt unsecured inside the roller coaster," Hipolito said. "He felt like he was going to fly out."

Sunday's incident happened on the last day of Antioch's summer food and entertainment festival.

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As the injured boy was rushed to Lutheran General, Antioch Mayor Scott Gartner made the call to shut down all carnival rides for the remainder of the event.

"Not only for the, you know, respect to the family that went through this, but also for the safety of the rest of the residents to make sure there weren't other rights that could potentially be an issue," Gartner said. "The public safety for something like this is first and foremost."

Antioch police said they are now investigating alongside the Illinois Department of Labor.

"They're going to do their investigation in terms of the safety of the ride and if all precautions were in place and working properly," Smith said.

Investigators said it is currently too early to determine what exactly led up to the boy falling off the ride.