The Expoland theme park in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, is shutting down owing to a drastic fall in visitor numbers in the wake of a fatal roller coaster accident in 2007.

The derailment killed one passenger and left 19 others with injuries.

A company spokesman told The Japan Times: “It was hard to find a sponsor company. Also, because of the bad economy, we decided to close the park. We couldn’t regain the people’s trust on safety.”

Yesterday, the operator withdrew its application for bankruptcy protection under the corporate rehabilitation law at the Osaka District Court, following a board decision to liquidate the company.

It is rumoured that Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto would like to see Paramount Pictures build a theme park at the site.