Theme parks mulling tighter security after Tokyo park attack
Sunday, 24 Aug, 2016
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A slashing incident at a Tokyo amusement park at the weekend has caught the theme park industry off guard, with questions being raised as to whether on site security is sufficient.
Nine females at the Cobalt Beach wave pool in Tokyo Summerland suffered minor wounds in a slashing attack thought to have been carried out with a razor-like object.
Police were called but no one was apprehended.
The pool was closed off while investigations continued but the park remained open for the remainder of the day.
Koji Aoki, spokesman for another amusement park, Yomiuri Land, told the Japan Times more can be done to prevent such incidents from taking place.
"It would be best to introduce measures enabling us to prevent incidents before they occur, and one way to do so is through pool patrols, which we’ve already been doing, but we might need to beef them up," he said.
"During special events at pools, which attract crowds, we normally increase the number of lifeguards and security guards to patrol the pool and the surrounding areas closely."
An unnamed source for Toshimaen, another amusement park in the city, said the decision not to close Tokyo Summerland was arguably a mistake.
"If a similar incident occurred here we would close the park in the first place and inform the visitors of the ongoing situation."
A police investigation is still ongoing at Tokyo Summerland, which had more than 10,000 visitors in the park at the time of the incident.
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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