Sunday, February 23rd, 2020, in Queensland Australia, a coroner has released his findings for the deaths of 4 people on October 25, 2016 at the Dreamworld Amusement Park.
The deaths happened on the Thunder River Rapids ride after a water pump malfunctioned, but the coroner believes that “a culpable culture” with “poor staff training and piecemeal engineering modifications without risk assessment” lead to the deaths of the 4.
“Such a culpable culture can only exist when leadership from the board down are careless in terms of safety,” The Coroner, McDougall said.
In the previous seven days before the incident the ride had broken down 5 times.
“[A fatal accident] was simply a matter of time. [Multiple safety issues] posed a risk and would have been easily identifiable to a competent person, had one ever been commissioned to conduct risk or hazard assessments of the ride.” McDougall added.
Family members of the decreased gave their own statements.
“The thought that Cindy would not experience all that life had in store for her was harder for us than the thought we might not see her again,” Low’s husband, Matthew, told.
“Our heart aches daily as we try with varying success to be grateful for the decades we had. She had the heart of a tiger, fierce and protective.”
The mother of 2 victims, Kim Dorsett, had this to say . “The easier part was burying them, the harrowing part is living without them,” she said.
“We exist in a world full of grief and shattered family and friends; three mothers who have lost their children living with broken hearts and souls, and let us not forget those four beautiful children who will now grow up without a mum, and that is what this is really about.”
Ardent Leisure, the parks operator, expressed “deepest sympathies” to the families of the victims.
He added in his statement “ride safety and reliability, training of ride operators, emergency management procedures, safety management systems and safety governance”.
“These significant changes which we continue to drive at Dreamworld have been acknowledged by the coroner in his report,”.
Photo Credit – Wikipedia . Original Article – The Guardian