Benjamin Roach·
News
··3 min read

Four dead on Dreamworld’s Thunder River Rapids Ride

Breaking news on a local tragedy – four adults have perished aboard the Thunder River Rapids Ride at Dreamworld, Gold Coast.

As this is a website that is actively linked to the amusement industry, we’ll continue to provide quality & respectful information that is free of gossip, fear-mongering, negativity or wild rumours. We welcome those to checkout this thread on Parkz for ongoing discussion. If you or someone you know is affected by this and wish to seek counselling, guidance or support, you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. Alternatively, there is a helpful article on the Red Cross site here.

This is a truly dark day for the industry as a whole and our thoughts go out to those families affected.

CONFIRMED FACTS

  • Four people (two women and two men) have perished, a Canberra mother Kate Goodchild, 32, her brother Luke Dorsett, 35, and his partner Roozbeh Argahi, 38, as well as 42-year-old Cindy Low
  • Two children, the 12 year old daughter of Kate Goodchild, and the 10 year old son of Ms Low were ejected from the raft as the ride tipped.
  • The incident occurred not on the water rapids component on the ride but on the final part of the conveyor belt that takes riders back to the station. Brian Codd, Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner shared at a press conference this morning (26th October) that “two of those [rafts] have come together and as a result one has flipped backwards, and has flipped, and has caught, and tossed some of those people…”
  • There is CCTV vision of the incident and authorities are investigating
  • The raft that tipped has been removed for forensic examination
  • The incident occurred at 2:20pm 25th October, 2016
  • The park did close early on the 25th October while dozens of emergency workers arrived at the scene
  • Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor Gavin Fuller said “[the ride] had sustained some sort of malfunction causing two people to be ejected … another two people were caught inside the ride.”
  • Craig Davidson, CEO of Dreamworld, stated at the press conference held outside the park on the 25th October at 4:45pm that him and said Dreamworld was “deeply shocked and saddened by this and our hearts and our thoughts go to the families involved and to their loved ones… At this stage, the park is closed and Dreamworld is working closely with police and emergency services and authorities to establish the facts around the incident.”
  • As of the time of writing, the park is still closed and re-opening is TBC.

DEBUNKED INFORMATION

  • Contrary to what news sources like The Sun have reported, this was not the same ride that closed earlier in the year due to a malfunction, in fact it was the Log Ride that was shut due to a guest standing in the flume.
  • It is still unconfirmed that an 18 year old female attendant was on her first day operating the ride
  • The ride had not planned to go into annual maintenance that day. Dreamworld’s team had placed a temporary closure notice on the website while details were being gathered, however some news sources had reported that this notice was placed prior to the incident occurring. Multiple sources have debunked this as not true and the website has since taken Thunder River Rapids’ page down.
  • It is not the Buzz Saw that malfunctioned as mentioned by Channel 9 news but in fact the Thunder River Rapids Ride which shares a close perimeter with.
  • At this stage it is a pending investigation as to the cause of the incident.

LIVE COVERAGE

(Last updated 9:55pm AEST GMT+10)

Update #15 – Channel 7 News report from the day, including unconfirmed animations of what may have happened.

Update #14 – A candlelight vigil is taking place at the front of the park

Update #13 – Dreamworld CEO Craig Davidson lays a wreath with staff and speaks to press

https://twitter.com/ABCNews24/status/791138274828058624

Update #12 – Press Conference from this morning

Update #11 – Queensland MP tells Ten News details about the scene.

Update #10 – Dreamworld have updated their site again. The park is now closed until further notice.

screen-shot-2016-10-25-at-6-28-25-pmUpdate #9 – A clearer photo has appeared on ABC news showing where the raft had stopped.

AAP: Dan Peled
AAP: Dan Peled

Update #8 – Dreamworld have updated their website.

screen-shot-2016-10-25-at-6-20-02-pmUpdate #7 – Queensland MP Annastacia Palaszczuk shares her thoughts.

Update #6 – 7 News update on the situation.

Update #5 – Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull weighs in on the incident.

Update #4 – Police use drone to survey ride

Update #3 – Post from Dreamworld’s Facebook Page

Update #2 – Authorities & Dreamworld hold a press conference at 4:45pm

https://twitter.com/ABCNews24/status/790807282447548416

Update #1 – 7 News Helicopter Coverage

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