Two amusement park visitors boarded a Sabah “sotong” ride seeking a quick thrill on the evening of March 6, but the experience turned disastrous for the pair after they were flung from the octopus-shaped machine, leaving them with serious injuries.

A man and a woman were injured, but no one died during the accident in Likas, the police chief of Sabah capital city Kota Kinabalu, Assistant Commissioner (AC) Zaidi Abdullah, told Malaysian news outlet Sinar Harian.

The aftermath of the incident was captured by other visitors to the fair in videos that were circulated online.

In the videos, a man and a woman with bloodied faces can be seen lying on the ground a few feet from one another, next to a fence. The woman can be seen wiping her face while the man remains motionless. In a separate video, rescue personnel can be seen attending to the pair.

In the background of the videos, a fair ride in the form of a neon-lit sotong, or octopus in Malay, can be seen at a halt.

With the body of the octopus anchoring the ride’s hub, cars at the ends of its tentacles serve as the riders’ seats, which are raised and lowered while spinning in a clockwise direction.

One video of the incident shows a car crashing into railings less than 30 seconds after its operator initiates the ride, bringing it to an abrupt halt.

Kota Kinabalu Fire and Rescue Department chief Ordine Gilu said a distress call was received at about 9pm.

He said two people had fallen out of a ride at the fun fair and were treated by emergency services personnel before they were taken to hospital separately, adding that rescue operations ended at 9.40pm.

The woman, 29, had head injuries, and the man was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s intensive care unit, reported Sin Chew Daily.

Sabah police ordered the fair operator to cease operations for safety inspections on all its machines.

The fair can resume after the machines are found to be in satisfactorily safe condition, said AC Zaidi.