Smiler victim Chanda Chauhan: 'We were in a horror movie'
A victim of the Alton Towers Smiler crash described the aftermath as being like "a horror movie" as the theme park admitted health and safety breaches.
Chanda Chauhan and her daughter Vanisha Singh spoke out for the first time about their ordeal riding in the second row of the carriage. Merlin Attractions, which owns the Staffordshire site, admitted one charge. "I'd like to see justice to stop this ever happening again," said Ms Singh. Ms Chauhan, 50, one of five people seriously injured, was rescued in a painstaking operation from trapped seats. She had surgery to her stomach and, following the crash, has received further treatment for a damaged liver and blood clots. "We were in a horror movie with flesh, blood, everything and we had to endure that for four or five hours," she said. "Although we weren't cut, and our scars were invisible, that stayed with us." Alton Towers admits Smiler safety breaches Ms Chauhan added: "There were moans, crying, screaming; then suddenly there was an eerie silence and that was so haunting. "I could see what looked like red paint and I thought 'oh my god that is actually blood'. "The adrenalin that I had before going on the ride turned into adrenalin of fear." Ms Singh, 30, from Walsall, suffered broken ribs and a swollen lung. She said the crash affected her young children, aged one and two. "They've got separation anxiety," she said. "If I leave or go anywhere they start to panic because they remember me going into hospital. Every time I leave they still think we don't know when mummy's coming back." The Health and Safety Executive's prosecution alleged that Merlin failed to protect those injured from the risks of the Smiler ride. It relates to Leah Washington, from South Yorkshire, and Vicky Balch, from Lancashire, who both lost a leg in the crash. The charge also names Miss Washington's boyfriend, Jo Pugh, Daniel Thorpe from Manchester and Ms Chauhan, from Wednesbury - all seriously injured on 2 June 2015.