Bhubaneswar, June 14: Three college students were injured after they fell from their ride at the BDA City Centre, popularly known as Nicco Park, here today.

The incident took place at 3pm when the girls were on the water chute. Saraswati Sethi, Priyanka Mohanty and Sraddhanjali Parida, all Plus Two students from Sailshree Vihar, were rushed to the Capital Hospital for treatment. While Priyanka studies commerce at the Rama Devi Women's College, Saraswati and Sradhanjali are students of arts at the Maharshi College of Natural Law.

An eyewitness said the car was coming down when it lost balance and the girls fell into the water pool. "As soon as the car was slightly derailed, the girls fell into the water pool," said the eyewitness.

Around 500 visitors were inside the amusement park when the mishap took place.

The 39-ft high water chute has two peaks. The car goes through a downward slope and then moves up again. The total length of the track is 180meters. At a time, around six to eight persons can take the ride for 100 seconds.

A Capital Hospital doctor said the girls had suffered minor injuries and the incident left them in a state of shock. "They were lucky as they fell into the water pool. Falling from this height may cause severe injuries to the head or the spinal cord. They would be released from hospital after observation," said P. K. Samantray, a surgery specialist at the Capital Hospital.

However, kin of these girls alleged that lack of proper maintenance of rides in the amusement park was responsible for the mishap. "The rides have become too old and are also not maintained properly. The park authorities were so insensitive that they did not even take them to the hospital," said Ipsita Sahu, a student of the Rama Devi Women's College.

Nicco Park, the first amusement facility in the state, was set up in 1998 and the water chute ride was there right from its inception.

A park employee said the ride was one of the popular of those available at the park. However, it was suspended after the mishap.

BDA City Centre administrative officer Mahendra Kumar Nanda denied the allegations of poor maintenance. "All rides at the park are maintained properly and checked thoroughly everyday before they are opened for public. The girls might have become scared and jumped off the ride," said Nanda.