Two kids screamed in terror as their mothers were killed in a horrific theme park tragedy at Australia’s largest amusement park.
The devastating incident unfolded at Dreamworld in Queensland on October 25, 2016, when the Thunder River Rapids ride malfunctioned, causing a raft to flip and crush four adults to death, reports the Mirror.
Katie Goodchild, Dorsett, Roozbeh Araghi and Cindy Low died at the Dreamworld theme park, after their raft collided with an empty one stuck on the conveyor belt. While the two kids, aged 10 and 12, were thrown to safety, their mothers were among those trapped in the machinery. Two victims were crushed instantly, while the other two drowned.
READ MORE: Huge fire rips through building on Scots high street as emergency services rush to scene
READ MORE: Shocking moment ‘dine and dash’ mums scoff Chinese meal and flee without paying
A later investigation revealed that one of the theme park’s Thunder River Rapids ride’s two large water pumps stopped working and so the water level suddenly dropped, the raft became stranded leaving it stuck on support rails between the end of the raft conveyor belt and the unloading area.
Another raft of six people came about a minute later, crashing into it. All 12 passengers found themselves being pulled upwards by the conveyor before the first raft stabilised on support rails.
Those on the second raft were dragged upright, forcing everyone to either fall out or become trapped between it and the conveyor mechanism.
All four adults tragically died, yet the two children, aged 10 and 12, were able to climb out of the raft as it remained wedged vertically on its side.
According to Queensland Court documenta, the children made it safely onto nearby platforms once the ride staff shut the conveyor down. It took emergency services, including over seven parademic crews, until the early hours of the following morning to recover all of the severely disfigured casualties.
At an inquest in February 2020, the Coroners Court of Queensland, Workplace Health and Safety prosecutor Aaron Guilfoyle explained how the conveyor belt sent the raft on its side.
Mr Guilfoyle said: “It ripped pieces of fibreglass from the raft which shook violently causing Ms Goodchild and Mr Dorsett to fall.
Ardent Leisure, the parent company of Dreamworld, said it accepted responsibility and had worked to improve safety standards.
Mr Guilfoyle added that the ride was poorly maintained by staff and its shutdown procedures were inadequate. The court found Ardent had failed in its duty of care and should have taken steps to make the ride safer.
“Steps were not that complex or burdensome and only mildly inconvenient and really were inexpensive,” Magistrate Pamela Dowse said “They operated the most iconic amusement park in the country, which targeted and attracted families.
The company was fined $3.6 million (£2 million), which the Magistrate said reflected the severity of Ardent’s failure.
