S.C. amusement park ride overturns, killing boy

SPARTANBURG, South Carolina - Officials in South Carolina say a train ride at a park overturned, killing a 6-year-old boy and sending a dozen children and adults to the hospital.

Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger says 6-year-old Benjamin Samuel Easler died Saturday. About 20 people were on the train when it crashed at Cleveland Park.

Spartanburg Police spokesman Art Littlejohn says more than a dozen children and adults were taken to the hospital.

The county runs Cleveland Park. Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt says the train was inspected Wednesday and went on several test runs before Saturday, its first day of operation for the season.

The derailment is under investigation.

On a state tourism website, Cleveland Park is described as a "126-acre park along the Reedy River (that) features tennis and volleyball courts, softball fields, playground, fitness trail, and picnic shelters. The park also contains the Rock Quarry Garden, the Fernwood Nature Trail, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Greenville Zoo."