Civil Defense rescue teams evacuate stranded riders from the “Star Flyer” amusement ride after a malfunction at an entertainment park in Baghdad’s Dora district on Wednesday night.
Baghdad amusement park operator arrested after 11 stranded on malfunctioning ride
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Civil Defense Directorate has filed a lawsuit against the operator of a “Star Flyer” ride at a Baghdad amusement park after 11 people were stranded at high altitude when the ride malfunctioned Wednesday evening.
The directorate said the operator had been detained for violating safety warnings and running the attraction before technical requirements were met.
Nawas Sabah Shaker, head of the directorate’s Media and Relations Department, told the state news agency that rescue teams “successfully carried out a complex rescue operation Wednesday evening that resulted in freeing 11 citizens” after the ride suddenly broke down at a park in the Dora area on the Karkh side of Baghdad.
Civil Defense teams had inspected the park on May 23, four days before the incident, as part of routine safety checks. Shaker said the directorate had requested a manufacturer inspection certificate for the rides and warned management against operating them until technical requirements were completed, “especially as the rides were still in the final stages of construction.”
Management ignored those warnings, he said, and operated the ride prematurely, causing it to stop suddenly and endanger the passengers. The directorate responded by filing a lawsuit and ordering the operator’s detention for explicit violation of public safety instructions.
Shaker called on entertainment venue owners to comply fully with occupational safety conditions and inspection recommendations “to avoid endangering citizens’ lives and legal accountability.”
The incident is the latest in a series of safety failures at Iraqi recreational sites. In March 2025, authorities in Karbala shut down all amusement parks in the governorate after a ride collapsed at Moonlight Amusement Park, injuring seven people including four women and two children; civil defense teams had inspected the park two days earlier. In March 2026, a child died at Al-Zawraa Park in Baghdad after crossing a security barrier and entering a restricted area at the zoo during Eid, where he was attacked by a tiger. The zoo said the incident was “a result of a clear violation of the instructions and warnings in place.”