Operator tried to stop ride

ONE of Dreamworld’s “top” operators has described how in vain he desperately pressed a stop button two or three times on a malfunctioning ride that killed four people.

Employee Peter Nemeth told an inquest that after seeing a raft on a collision course with a stranded empty raft on the Thunder River Rapids ride he had pushed a button on the main control panel to stop the ride’s conveyor belt.

To Mr Nemeth’s alarm, the conveyor did not stop until after the rafts had collided and the one carrying the guests had gone vertical, throwing the victims into the ride’s machinery.

“It did not stop even though I pressed it two or three times,” he told the second day of an inquest into the October 2016 deaths of Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner, Roozi Araghi.

Mr Nemeth was the main ride operator of the 30-yearold attraction at the time.

A police investigation discovered the conveyor would take about nine seconds to stop after the button was pushed, a fact Mr Nemeth — who told the inquest he was among the “top 10” ride operators in the park at the time — did not know until it was revealed to him yesterday.

“I am surprised to learn that,” he said. “I assumed the conveyor stop button would stop the ride instantly.”

An emergency stop button outside the main control area would have stopped the conveyor in two seconds, but it was never pressed.

Forensic crash investigator Senior Constable Steven Cornish earlier told the inquest if the emergency button had been pushed the tragedy could have been avoided.

Even if it had been pushed after the rafts collided the risk of death would have been lessened, Sen-Constable Cornish said.

Mr Nemeth, who now works for Dreamworld’s sister park WhiteWater World, said Thunder River Rapids was the “most stressful” to operate of all the park’s rides.

Multiple factors such as noise, queue lines, looking out for issues with the water pumps and keeping an eye on the No.2 operator made it difficult, he said.

Sen-Constable Cornish said the ride was reliant on human intervention and had a lack of automatic sensors and aids to ensure a shut down in case of malfunction.

The inquest has heard the ride’s water pump had failed twice on the day and Mr Nemeth revealed a supervisor had told him it would be shut down for the day if it failed again.

Sen-Constable Cornish also revealed Ms Goodchild’s 12year-old daughter and Ms Low’s 10-year-old son, who survived the accident, had actually remained in the raft and not been thrown clear.

The inquest resumes today.