A 20-year-old woman was killed after her hair got entangled in the rotator shaft of a Ferris wheel during a joyride and was dragged out of her seat under its impact at a fair in Bankura on Friday.

Before Priyanka Bauri hit the ground, the undergraduate student remained suspended by the hair for nearly a minute. As people looked helplessly at the girl hanging from a height of 25ft, she slumped to the ground but the hair and the skin covering the skull remained entangled in the rotator shaft.

"It was shocking to watch the girl hit the ground without her hair and the skin covering the skull. The girl shouted for help but no one could hear her cry as it got drowned in the cacophony of a fair. She was initially admitted to Bankura hospital and died on her way to Calcutta," a police source said.

Priyanka Bauri. The Telegraph

Priyanka, a resident of Bhadul village adjacent to Bankura town, went to the local fair and decided to take a ride on the Ferris wheel with her minor sister. According to eyewitnesses, as the Ferris wheel was in motion, she suddenly stood up and tried to take a photo of her own.

"As she stood up on the Ferris wheel, her long hair got entangled with the rotator shaft of the Ferris wheel. Within a moment, she was dragged out of her seat and could be seen hanging in the air before she fell from a height of 25ft. We were shocked to see the girl land bald on the ground and looked up to see her hair and the skin on the top of the head stuck to the rotator shaft," an eyewitness told police.

Priyanka was a student of Bankura Zilla Saradamani Mahila Mahavidyapith and her father Swapan Bauri is a worker at local cold storage.

After the accident, the local administration stopped the operation of the Ferris wheel.

Bankura police superintendent Vaibhav Tiwari said a probe had started.