Eight Students Rescued After Iron Shark Roller Coaster Malfunctions In Texas, Terrifying Viral Video Captures Incident

TEXAS VIRAL VIDEO: Eight students were trapped for several hours in the Iron Shark roller coaster at Pleasure Pier in Galveston on Thursday and were rescued. Houston ISD said the eight riders were students and they were on a field trip sponsored by the Energised for STEM Academy Middle School and STEM Academy High School. HISD released a statement Thursday night that in part said, “We are thankful all students, staff and chaperones are safe. School administration is in direct contact with the families of all students on the trip.

Students Stranded On Iron Shark Roller Coaster At Galveston Pleasure Pier

Eight people were left hanging at the top of a roller coaster in Texas after the ride got stuck on a vertical section of track.

Firefighters had to use a long ladder truck to safely reach them pic.twitter.com/15xO4OiR71

— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) May 29, 2026

Texas Firefighters Rescue Students 

Video taken by Eyewitness News from our live camera in Galveston shows the ride that came to a stop at 5:21 p.m. The roller coaster on the pier, Iron Shark, is the tallest and has a 100-foot vertical lift hill. During the rescue operation, the amusement park was closed, as seen in SkyEye13. Galveston Fire Department’s Tower 1 engine was on the pier to make way for the first responders to undertake the rescue.

Landry’s Inc., which owns Pleasure Pier, confirmed the ride malfunctioned, but came to a stop as it was intended to when a situation like this arose. A statement read, “We were immediately concerned about the safety concerns of our guests, so we called the Fire Department for help, and all guests were safely removed from the ride, a comprehensive inspection of the ride will be carried out before returning it to service.” 

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