Regulators suspect in Naiwala killer theme park failures
When 48-year old Janaki Gangodawila and her 13-year-old daughter Araliya Rasmi set off from their home in Kotugoda looking forward to a day of thrills at a theme park in Naiwala, Gampaha, they could not have foreseen deadly consequences.
The mother and daughter were killed when the gondola of an attraction named the “Octopus’’ broke off and tossed them aside causing fatal injuries.
The mother of three had died by the time she was taken to Gampaha District Hospital. Her daughter, Araliya Rasmi, 13, died the following day. She was admitted to the Gampaha District Hospital and transferred to the Colombo National Hospital. She was later transferred back to the intensive care unit of the Gampaha Hospital, where she died.
The victim was a grade eight student of Gampaha Udugampola Senarath Paranawitana Maha Vidyalaya.
Preliminary inquiries under SSP Muditha Pussella and ASP Indika Silva of the Gampaha Police show that the steel part which attached the gondola to the steel rim of the ferris wheel had broken off.
Six suspects, including the owner of the park were taken into custody the next day and produced in the Attanagalle Magistrates’ Court. They have been remanded until February 13.
Attanagalle Magistrate Tharagani Rajapaksa also instructed the State Engineering Corporation to submit a report on the equipment at the park.
Park owners must seek approval from the local authority and then the Ministry of Health office in their area, the director of the health service in the Gampaha District, Dr. Nalin Ariyaratna, explained.
He added that the Public Health Inspector in the area would then be assigned to visit the site to evaluate regulatory compliance.
"The Minuwangoda Urban Council, under whose purview the park falls into had not followed this procedure,” he told the Sunday Times.
Dr. Ariyaratne said inspections of such theme parks must be done annually.
However, Minuwangoda Urban Council PHI said the park falls under the purview of the Minuwangoda Pradeshiya Sabha.
When the Sunday Times contacted the Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Padmakumara Arangalla he said the parks have to be registered under their respective institutions.
“If the construction is related to sports then they must obtain approval from the Sports Ministry” he said.
Meanwhile, the State Engineering Corporation (SEC) is currently conducting a probe in order to compile a report that would be submitted before the Attanagalle Magistrates Court on February 13.
“This accident occurred as a result of a mechanical failure," SEC General Manager D. T. Rajasekaran told the Sunday Times.
He emphasised that private park owners must pay special attention to the maintenance of the park equipment.