The incident happened on the park's Space Journey ride, a motion simulator which spins 11 carriages, each carrying four people, around a centrifuge.

According to a short statement from the Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town Holdings, which owns the park, the ride collapsed on Tuesday afternoon (29 June) trapping riders and killing six.

The statement didn't reveal more details and it is unclear what caused the accident, but witness accounts suggest the ride lost power and that one of the carriages came loose, striking the others and leading to the entire ride collapsing.

It is believed that the ride was manufactured by a Chinese company and that it was designed to closely resemble a popular space ride found at parks in the US.

The ¥3.5bn (£343m, US$516m, €422m) OCT East visitor resort, which is spread over 2.2 acres, includes two theme parks, three 'town centres', four large hotels and two golf courses.

Ecoventure Valley is one of the two theme parks and known for its thrill rides.

OCT Group is listed on the Shenzhen stockmarket and is one of China's largest developers of visitor attractions and resorts. Its portfolio includes the Happy Valley amusement parks nationwide.

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