‘RAT’S NEST OF WIRES’ REPORTED
DREAMWORLD tradies have told an inquest into the Thunder River Rapids Ride tragedy of a startling series of events in the lead-up to the fatal incident on October 25, 2016.
On the ninth day of the inquest yesterday, park electricians took the stand to tell what they knew about the ride.
Also on the stand was former ride attendant Joe Stenning, who saw rafts flip during a separate incident in 2001 that occurred in the same place on the ride as the 2016 disaster.
The inquest was told yesterday:
● An internal Dreamworld incident report after rafts flipped in 2001 recommended ride operators undergo emergency response scenario training to “improve confidence in an emergency situation”. It was never introduced for ride operators.
● Electricians repeatedly reported a “rat’s nest of wires” under the main console and had been promised it would be fixed before the 2016 incident.
● Francoire De Villiers, an electrician who attended the first of three pump breakdowns on the day of the disaster, had received a “final written warning” for an incident just weeks before the tragedy.
● The repeated failure of the pump raised “alarm bells” in the lead-up to the disaster. After the first failure on the day of the tragedy, Mr De Villiers was asked to complete further testing the next morning.
● Electrician Jacob Wilson told the inquest a device could have been “easily” installed to stop the ride’s conveyor if a pump failed.
More Dreamworld employees are expected to take the stand when the inquest continues today.