At approximately 5:47 PM on 25/11, the 123-meter-tall Osaka ferris wheel, located at the Expocity complex, abruptly halted during a thunderstorm after a lightning strike, leaving 20 passengers stranded.

Approximately 40 operating staff attempted to manually rotate the cabins downward, but the process was slow. Firefighters and rescue teams were then called to the scene. The passengers were successfully rescued around 2:41 AM — nearly 9 hours after the incident — with no reported injuries.

Initial reports indicated that power was restored shortly after the incident, but the ferris wheel remained inoperable due to a damaged power management system. Additionally, the heating and cooling systems within the cabins were non-functional.

Passengers rescued from the cabins. Photo: Japan News

Operating staff waited approximately 3,5 hours before alerting emergency rescue services. They initially believed manual rescue procedures would suffice, but as the operation progressed slower than anticipated, they decided to call for assistance.

Takeshi Niwa, communications manager for the ferris wheel's operating company, stated that the company is conducting a detailed investigation into the incident and reviewing its response procedures.

According to Niwa, lightning likely caused electrical system issues, leading to the ferris wheel's sudden halt. However, investigators are still verifying if the structure was directly struck by lightning.

Rescue teams assisting passengers stranded after the ferris wheel was struck by lightning. Video: Newsonjapan

Hoai Anh (According to News on Japan, Japan Times)