Woman Injured On Six Flags' El Toro Will Need Oral Surgery: Report

JACKSON, NJ — A woman who was hit in the face by a flying object on a ride at Six Flags Great Adventure Friday says she will need oral surgery after the incident, according to a report.

News12 New Jersey identified the woman as Sabreen Nassar, 19, of Lake Hopatcong. Nassar was riding El Toro, the park's massive wooden roller coaster, when she was hit in the face with something that felt like a baseball bat.

Nassar told the station she has a swollen lip, two broken molars and another missing tooth, and will need oral surgery to repair the damage.

Neither she nor the park knew what the object was that hit Nassar.

Kristin Siebeneicher, a spokeswoman for Six Flags Great Adventure, said Nassar was treated by park medical staff and then taken to a local hospital for further evaluation after the incident on Friday.

Nassar told the station: “They just gave me paper towels for the blood and that was it. They kind of didn’t know what to do.”

El Toro was closed Friday after the incident while state inspectors examined the ride and reopened Saturday after the park did a second inspection in the morning, Siebeneicher said.

El Toro, which has 4,400 feet of track and nine hills, opened in 2006 and ranks as one of the tallest and fastest wooden coasters in the world, the park says on its website. The ride's first hill climbs to nearly 19 stories and drops 176 feet at a 76-degree angle, the park says, and attains speeds of 70 miles per hour.

The park bans riders from carrying loose items on most rides, for safety reasons, according to the park's website:

"Loose articles of any kind (including but not limited to purses, backpacks, and beverage containers) may not be taken past the queue entrance and cannot be left on the load/unload platform of the following rides: SUPERMAN: Ultimate Flight; BATMAN: The Ride; El Toro; Kingda Ka; The Dark Knight Coaster; BIZARRO; Nitro. Cell phones, pagers, or other small items must be secured in cargo pockets, zippered jacket pockets, or waist packs*. All loose articles which cannot be secured must be left in a locker or with a non-rider prior to entering the queue line.*Waist packs are not permitted on El Toro."

Watch the News12 report here.

Photo: El Toro, with Kingda Ka in the background, by Paulm27 - Own work, via Wikipedia, licensed under Creative Commons 3.0