So close to Dreamworld disaster
A Blenheim man was shaken to realise his family went on an illfated Dreamworld ride only half an hour before it malfunctioned, killing four people.
The Thunder River Rapids ride ended in tragedy at Dreamworld on Australia’s Gold Coast on October 25, with two people drowning and another two crushed to death in the ride’s machinery.
Tane Malcolm went on the ride twice that day, with his partner and their 5-year-old and 7-year-old daughters.
‘‘It was probably one of the most tame rides in that park. At no point did it feel unsafe,’’ Malcolm said.
However the Wairau River Wines chef did remember looking at the conveyor belt and thinking he would not want to fall out, as the gaps between the slats were big enough to fit a person.
What happened was a ‘‘complete and utter tragedy’’, Malcolm said.
Police believe something in the Thunder River Rapids ride malfunctioned, causing the empty raft to stop moving forward.
When the second raft came to the top of an uphill conveyor belt, it bumped into the first raft.
As it continued to push forward, the pressure forced it upwards against the first raft before it flipped over entirely, causing the wooden seats to smash and sending the occupants into the wooden conveyor belt and surrounding water .
The victims were identified as Canberra mother Kate Goodchild and her brother Luke Dorsett, his partner Roozi Araghi, and New Zealand-born Cindy Low.
Malcolm’s partner thought the family had been on the Thunder River Rapids only five minutes before the accident happened, but Malcolm thought it was closer to half and hour.
The family went on another ride after going on the Thunder River Rapids.
‘‘It must’ve happened then. They closed it off,’’ Malcolm said.
A helicopter was hovering overhead but he did not really ‘‘click’’ what had happened until much later.
Malcolm went to the Tower of Terror afterwards but then realised it was closed, and saw people milling around checking their cellphones for updates.
Malcolm said he received ’’snippets’’ of information about the ride while he was in the park.
However, he only heard about the tragedy as the family were driving back to the Sunshine Coast that afternoon.
‘‘People weren’t evacuating the park. They just closed off the particular area and kept it pretty quiet,’’ Malcolm said.
There were lots of detectives in the area as the family left.
An investigation into the accident is continuing.
The ride broke down for about 30 minutes earlier in the day.
It also broke down on Saturday and Sunday and was closed for about 15 minutes on both occasions.
Queensland Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd has said prosecutions for negligence had not been ruled out.