Ohio State Fair ride accident: 18-year-old killed, 7 injured identified

Authorities identified the killed man as Tyler Jarrell, 18, of Columbus, WHIO reported Thursday morning.

The news station identified the injured riders as 18-year-old Jennifer Lambert, of Columbus, 19-year-old Abdihakim Hussein, of Columbus, 19-year-old Keziah Lewis, of Columbus, 22-year-old Jacob Andrews, of Pataskala, 36-year-old Tamika Dunlap, of Reynoldsburg, and 42-year-old Russell Franks, of Columbus. A 14-year-old boy, whose name was not released, was also injured.

The Associated Press reported that a swinging and spinning amusement park ride called the Fire Ball malfunctioned on the opening day of the fair, throwing people from the ride.

Battalion Chief Steve Martin, a Columbus Fire Division spokesman, said some or all of the victims were reported to have been thrown from the ride, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

>> Related: Fire Ball rides closed in California after deadly Ohio State Fair accident 

Battalion Chief Steve Martin, a Columbus Fire Division spokesman, told the AP that two of the injured victims remained in critical condition on Thursday morning.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said in a statement that he is "terribly saddened" about the accident and ordered fair rides were shut down pending additional safety inspections.

The Ohio State Fair tweeted a statement about the incident early Thursday.

The fair announced it will open gates at 9 a.m. Thursday, and other activities will resume as scheduled.

All rides will remain closed until inspections of each attraction can be finished, according to the director for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the agency in charge on conducting inspections on fair rides.

“Our inspectors are very well trained,” said David Daniels, director of Ohio Department of Agriculture. “When we feel we’ve gotten our complete inspection done we’ll reopen.”

The Ohio Highway Patrol is handling the investigation on the accident and said Thursday an independent review of the attraction will be done to determine what caused the incident to happen.