Teen, 18, dies after falling from The Pendulum ride at Cabo San Lucas festival

An 18-year-old has died after falling from a spinning carnival ride at a traditional festival in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on the night of Tuesday 20 October, the New York Post reports.

Gabriela Rodríguez Tezoco was riding The Pendulum at the Cabo San Lucas Traditional Festivals in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, when she was thrown from her seat as the attraction reached full speed, according to WION. Mexican Red Cross paramedics treated her at the scene and she was taken to a nearby hospital, where she died of her injuries in the early hours of Wednesday 21 October.

The Los Cabos City Council confirmed her death in a statement: “It is with deep sorrow that we report that the young woman who was injured in the incident that occurred in the amusement park area of the Cabo San Lucas Traditional Festivals, and who was immediately transferred to receive medical attention, lost her life despite the efforts of the health personnel.”

Mayor Christian Agúndez Gómez ordered The Pendulum closed while safety tests are carried out on it and the festival’s other attractions, and addressed the tragedy at a festival concert, telling the crowd: “It could have been any one of us. You are not alone.”

The Baja California Sur State Attorney General’s Office has opened a formal investigation into the circumstances of the death and into potential liability, the Sun reports. No arrests have been made and the ride’s operators have not been publicly identified. The municipality has also appointed an interim head of its civil protection department to facilitate the inquiries, according to gutzy.asia.

Rodríguez Tezoco had graduated this summer from the Colegio de Bachilleres de Baja California Sur’s Plantel 10, which paid tribute to its former student.