CHALKIDIKI – A swinging chair ride at an unlicensed amusement park in northern Greece that broke off, sending a 19-year-old to his death, wasn’t maintained and wasn’t safe, a consultant hired by the victim’s family said.

“The specific machine and all the chairs on it – because there are four sets of chairs at the points of rotation and support – are all rotten. They were extremely dangerous. And no, they didn’t become dangerous yesterday,” he said. “No one should have issued a certification (for use),” he added.

Neither he nor the victim, the park owner, the 21-year-old ride operator nor the park were named under privacy laws but photos released by the victim’s father showed rusty and broken parts on the Crazy Dance ride, as well as missing screws.

The technical consultant said the ride – which was reportedly approved by police and by an engineer – unnamed – who was said not to have checked it, was “extremely dangerous,” but no one has been held accountable.

The incident happened in Halkidiki and the father went to the park with the consultant to witness the examination as the municipality of Kassandra and the Development Ministry blamed each other for not closing down the park.

While the police continue an investigation, the park owner and ride operator were released after briefly being detained although reports said the operator ran away when the incident happened and left the ride spinning.

That was after the brother of the victim, riding in a chair next to him and witnessing the horror, said the operator said he was going to “push it hard,” and make the swings fly even faster, no report if it exceeded allowable limits.

The findings are expected to be added to the investigation, a process that can linger and often be delayed in Greece and not see prosecutions in some cases and many then forgotten until the next tragedy.

An unnamed engineer who went to the park to inspect rides signed off approval on the deadly ride without actually checking it, OPEN TV said earlier without indicating how that had been confirmed.

No names were given but OPEN TV said the engineer signed off approval on the ride without putting it into operation and later the brother of the victim, on the ride with him, said they were told some of the seats weren’t safe.

The report said the park had been operating without a proper license since the start of the 2024 summer season and although the municipality knew it was there – the Mayor denied it – and that there was no attempt to shut it down.

All staff of the park were asked to come to the park on Aug. 19, the day of the tragedy, to be present for a supposed inspection of the park and its rides, according to the TV station’s report about the incident.

It wasn’t said if the inspector was being questioned but OPEN TV said the park’s management either ignored these complaints or attempted to cover up issues by repainting worn equipment to make it appear new.

It was earlier reported that police had gone to the park previously and found that there was no license and notified municipal officials who reportedly didn’t act on it, saying they didn’t have the authority to do anything.