Couple Saves Girl on Roller Coaster After She ‘Lets Out This Blood-Curdling Scream’ When Her Seat Belt Allegedly Fails

A roller coaster ride at an amusement park in Missouri turned into a terrifying ordeal, according to one local couple.

Chris and Cassie Evans said they were riding the Mamba roller coaster at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City on Oct. 11, when they heard a scream from behind them, according to Fox 8, ABC 7 and KMBC.

“We get on the roller coaster and the very first hill, the girl sitting behind my wife just lets out this blood-curdling scream, like I’ve never heard before,” Chris told Fox 8. “I assumed it was her first time on the ride, but then she said her seat belt came undone.”

He said that he and his wife, who are season ticket holders to the park and know the ride fairly well, did everything they could to help secure the girl in her seat as the roller coaster took dips and turns.

“I had looped my arm underneath her lap bar, which had a pretty big gap between her and the lap bar. So at this point, I’m seeing a huge space, no seat belt. I looped my arm underneath the lap bar, and I grabbed a hold of her wrist. My wife was pushing down on her legs,” he explained to Fox 8.

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The Mamba is the tallest ride at the park and entails an initial drop of 205 feet, according to the park’s website. The drop accelerates passengers at a speed of 75 miles per hour.

“As we crested each hill or as we started to go up to the top, I recognized that it was going to lift her out of her seat. So I kind of shifted our positions to, instead of holding her, to push down on her whole body to keep her from coming out of the seat while we’re going over those hills,” he added.

Chris said that they were able to help keep the girl in her seat until the end of the ride, and they then reported the incident to management. He said that he and his wife became separated from the girl after the incident and have not spoken to her since.

In a statement to PEOPLE, a Worlds of Fun spokesperson stated that the ride was immediately shut down following the incident. It was re-opened later that day after a “thorough inspection.”

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“On Thursday [Oct. 30], the ride underwent a comprehensive safety review, and we implemented modifications requested by the Fire Marshall to ensure it meets or exceeds all applicable safety standards before it opened to guests that evening,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson noted that the Mamba has a multi-layered restraint system, and said that guest and team member safety is a “top priority.”

While speaking to ABC 7, Chris’s wife, Cassie — a mom of four — called the incident “terrifying.”

“The scream that she screamed — I had never heard anything like that before in my entire life,” Cassie said, her voice welling with emotion.

She went on to say that she and her husband do not plan to go back to the park any time soon — at least until they see a “change.”

“We probably won’t go back for a while,” she told ABC 7. “We need to see a change, and once we see that change I will be comfortable taking my four children [there] — who I am not comfortable taking currently.”