TWO people were killed and one was injured when a rocker arm’s counterbalance suddenly fell Saturday morning as the three workers were dismounting the equipment at the theater at Knight Valley in the OCT East theme park.

The Rongmaochang Construction Engineering Co. employees had been working at the site for days when the counterbalance of the rocker arm suddenly fell at around 9:50 a.m. as they were dismounting the rocker arm.

Two of the men were pronounced dead at 5 p.m. while one was in stable condition, according to a release by the Shenzhen Municipal Government Information Office.

Yantian District has set up a task force to investigate the cause of the incident.

This was the second serious fatal accident at OCT East, following the incident in June 2010 when the space shuttle simulator Space Journey plunged 12 meters to the ground with more than 40 people inside.

Six people were killed in the thrill-ride’s plunge at Knight Valley, and 10 people were injured in the accident.

The Space Journey simulator allows tourists to experience double gravity.

After the incident, 11 people were criminally detained and eight of them were later sentenced to jail terms of between 18 months and five years.

The investigation concluded that the incident was a serious work safety incident caused by violations in design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance. The simulator has 12 cabins. During operation the No. 5 cabin lost control due to a failure of the mechanical support system and collided with the operation platform, and then with other cabins. The No. 5 cabin fell to the ground, and other cabins lost stability and were damaged after colliding with the operation platform.

(Han Ximin)