Roller Coaster Riders Freed After Dangling

Two women who were stranded on their side when a ride malfunctioned almost 100 feet in the air were rescued Tuesday afternoon when ride operators were finally able to slowly move their pod back to the ground at the Miami-Dade County Fair, CBS News Station WFOR-TV in Miami reports.

The women had been stranded high above the fair for more than an hour, after the Space Roller suddenly stopped in the middle of a ride.

Watch: Nightmare Carnival Ride

The Space Roller, the attraction that trapped the women, has a pod of cars at the end of a long arm. It had operating for about two hours when it apparently malfunctioned.

The roller coaster was virtually empty because of the relatively early hour. Later in the day it would usually be filled with passengers.

News footage showed the seemingly calm riders turned horizontally in their seats, with their feet dangling above the fairgrounds. Rescue workers were shown climbing into a cherry picker construction device and approaching the ride.

Miami Beach Fire Rescue was called to the fair because apparently no equipment on site at the fairgrounds could reach the stranded passengers. A ladder truck was dispatched to the fairgrounds to reach the stranded passengers.

The passengers stranded high above the fair appeared to be unhurt and could be seen apparently making calls from their cell phones.

While firefighters waited for the arrival of an aerial unit, two firefighters and a third person attempted to reach the passengers with an aerial lift, commonly known as a "cherry picker." While they were able to come close to the passengers, and appeared to be speaking to the stranded people, they were unable to use the equipment to get them off the ride.

Shortly after that visit, the ride started to slowly move, rotating the women from their high perch back to the base of the unit. After a few moments, crews were able to release the safety harnesses that had kept them safe while they hung at the top of the ride, and the two women walked off the ride, apparently unhurt.

The women, whose names were not immediately available, were escorted away by fair officials.

The Space Roller is built in the Netherlands by the company Mondial and is known by the company as the Topscan.

The company's Web site says, "The hydraulic drive enables the main cross arm to make an oval arc in both directions left and right. At the end of this cross arm are the unique rotating gondolas which are fitted with the safest shoulder and lap restraints. The gondolas are allowed to rotate freely using centrifugal force, they also can perform a 360 degree loop. As the riders' legs are free the sensation of flying and performing loops is enhanced."