Safety blunders on tragic park ride

AN urgent memo urging staff not to press a button that could have prevented the Dreamworld tragedy was issued just days before four people died on the Thunder River Rapids ride, an inquest has been told.

On a stunning opening day of evidence, investigators yesterday told the inquest the tragic events at the Gold Coast theme park in October 2016 could have been prevented if any number of safety measures had been in place.

Detective Sergeant Nicola Brown, the officer in charge of the investigation, and Senior Constable Steven Cornish, who was working with the forensic crash unit, each told Coroner James McDougall about a number of concerns raised during the police probe, including: CONFUSION over the function of various emergency buttons. MODIFICATIONS to the planks lining the conveyor belt which opened dangerous gaps. LACK of effective seat restraints. PROBLEMS with communication between ride operators. AN eerily similar scenario in 2001, when fortunately no one was on a raft that flipped. AND the circulation of a memo marked “priority urgent” which “dissuaded” staff from pressing a button that would have stopped the conveyor belt in just two seconds.

Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozi Araghi and Cindy Low all died on the ride.

The inquest was told the ride had been shut twice earlier in the day due to a failure of a pump to keep the water level at an effective height.

While the problem was resolved both times before the ride was reopened, it happened again just one minute before the fatal ride.