Child Critically Injured at Louisiana State Fair

A young boy was critically injured Wednesday at the Louisiana State Fair after he wound up trapped under a ride in the fair’s children’s section.

The accident happened shortly before noon at a ride where cars go in a circle. The child, about four-years-old, was taken to LSU Medical Center. His condition was not immediately known, but the injuries were described as life threatening.

KTBS-TV reports the boy was at the fair with a group of Head Start children from Coushatta.

A witness told the station that the Shreveport Fire Department used the “jaws of life” to help extricate the child, who was under the ride for more than 20 minutes.

A second witness said the ride had stopped and the little boy was in the process of getting off when it appeared another child hit a button and re-started the ride, sending the victim under it.

The Fire Marshal has issued a cease and desist order involving the ride until further notice. Fair director Chris Giordano told KTBS-TV that the fire marshal and the ride operator will examine it before it can be used again.

Giordano said it was the first serious injury he knows of at the Louisiana State Fair.