MIAMI -- An 8-year-old girl was recovering Sunday after slipping from her seat on a spinning carnival ride.

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Elianny Rodriguez remained hospitalized with head trauma, a broken arm and serious cuts and bruises, her father told The Miami Herald.

The girl fell Saturday from the Gee Wizz ride set up at a carnival in the parking lot of a Little Havana dog track.

"I had to watch her fall, and I could not do anything," Eutiquiano Rodriguez said.

Witnesses said the ride's restraining harnesses suddenly became loose, and Elianny slipped from under the security bar across her waist and fell before the operator could hit the ride's emergency stop, Miami Fire Rescue spokesman Ignatius Carroll said.

"She must have fallen about 20 feet," Carroll said.

Five other children and three adults were also injured, authorities said.

Inspectors from the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said the ride would remain closed until the cause of the accident could be determined. The carnival continues through Dec. 11.

The Gee Wizz ride is manufactured by Colorado-based Wisdom Industries, lasts about two minutes and rotates about 40 times per ride, according to the company's Web site. The company's telephones went unanswered late Sunday.

Brian Morrissey, general agent for Chicago-based Midwest Midways, the company operating the carnival, said he could not comment on the incident.

"We have state inspections and inspect the rides before we open," he said.