The man’s name has not been released, but according to Mashable, he began working at Disneyland Paris in 2002. It’s believed that the man, 45, was electrocuted as he worked on a faulty light fixture in the haunted house.
Although an autopsy hasn’t been performed yet, initial investigations point to accidental electrocution as the cause of death, The Telegraph reports.
A Disneyland spokesman said an investigation is ongoing and noted that police and electrics experts are also involved in the investigation.
Police interviewed the man’s colleagues, who discovered his body inside the haunted house.
Patrick Maldidier, a staff union representative for Disneyland Paris, said the man had worked at the park for over a decade and was popular with colleagues, noting he was “always smiling.”
Management is “deeply saddened” by the man’s death and sent condolences to his “family and relatives,” said a Disneyland spokesperson.
“We are truly saddened to learn of the passing of one of our Cast Members, and our hearts go out to his family and friends during this very difficult time,” the park said in a statement, The Huffington Post reports.
The man, who was from Noisy-le-Grand, had worked at the park since 2002 and was a father.
The popularity of Disney’s haunted houses makes it clear that people like to be scared, The Daily Beast reports. Paris’s Phantom Manor is the fifth haunted house in the franchise, and it’s a spin-off of Disneyland California’s Haunted Mansion.
Unfortunately, the death at Disneyland Paris’s Phantom Manor isn’t the first accident in recent years. A five-year-old boy fell from a boat in 2013 on the Pirates of the Caribbean rides. He was trapped between the moving boats and the ride platform and suffered severe injuries which he fortunately survived.
However, The Daily Beast notes that park employees working behind the scenes and after hours, are more likely than visitors to come to serious harm.`The only other recent death due to equipment problems at Disneyland Paris was that of a 53-year-old subcontractor hired to clean the “It’s A Small World” ride in 2010. The man was trapped under a boat when the machinery was accidentally switched on.
Phantom Manor will be closed until at least Wednesday, while investigations continue.
