Four adults died on a River Rapids theme park ride that left children screaming in horror at the gruesome sight
Two children screamed in horror as their mothers were killed in a devastating theme park tragedy. A group were enjoying a fun-filled day out at the Dreamworld theme park in Queensland, Australia when disaster struck when they were they were crushed to death as their lazy river raft flipped on its side after smashing into another.
Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozbeh Araghi and Cindy Low lost their lives at the Dreamworld theme park. The gruesome tragedy was caused by the Thunder River Rapids ride malfunctioning on October 25 2016 at Australia’s biggest theme park. The four adults were on the ride with two children when it smashed into an empty raft that became stuck on a conveyor belt.
The children were thrown to safety, but the adults landed on the belt. Two were crushed to death and the other two drowned in the water below.
The incident occurred because one of the theme park’s Thunder River Rapids ride’s two large water pumps stopped working and so the water level suddenly dropped. They became stranded as a result of the lack of water, leaving it stuck on support rails between the end of the raft conveyor belt and the unloading area.
Then came another raft of six people about a minute later which crashed into it, before 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 not so lucky as it was dragged upright, forcing everyone to either fall out or become trapped between it and the conveyor mechanism.
All four adults died yet the two children on board, aged 10 and 12, were able to climb out of the raft as it remained wedged vertically on its side.
According to Queensland Court documents, the children were able to make it safely onto nearby platforms once ride staff shut the conveyor down. It took emergency services including over seven paramedic crews until the early hours of the following morning to recover all of the severely disfigured casualties.
At the February 2020 inquest by 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.
