School-girl dies after fall from New Jersey Ferris wheel

An 11-year-old girl died on Friday as she fell down from a Ferris wheel, while on a school trip to the popular shore resort at Wildwood, New Jersey, Reuters reported.

Abiah Jones, as identified by police, was a student at the Pleasant Tech Academy, in Pleasantville, New Jersey.

According to Wildwood Police Department, Jones plummeted from Morey's Mariner Landing Pier about 12.30 p.m. Police said they first received a call about the accident about 12:30 p.m., and that Jones was pronounced dead at about 1:15 p.m., Reuters reported.

Tim Samson, the brand manager for Morey's Mariner Landing Pier said the Ferris wheel is 156 feet high. He told Reuters that he did not know where Jones was when she fell. One of the attractions of the wheel is that riders get a good view of the adjacent beach and the ocean as they go around and around, Samson told.

The amusement park was closed for Friday by the officials, while officials from the New Jersey carnival amusement department inspected the wheel, as reported by Reuters.

According to a Morley Piers spokeswoman, is the first fatal incident since the wheel opened in 1985, a CNN report said.