Thunder River Rapids incident at Dreamworld

[Flynn_Smith]

I just really hope the park doesnt get shut down from this. They are doing everything they can to help the victims faimly and/or witnesses. They dont deserve to be shut down aswell. This was a freak accident and staff did everything they could to try and help the victims

[DJKostya]

34 minutes ago, Theme Park Girl said:

Names of three of the victims have now been released. 

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/dreamworld-deaths-children-watch-mum-and-friends-die-in-ride-accident/news-story/20be2cff92f55e85d603f04864882450

The tragedy at Dreamworld today now hits home even harder by putting names and faces to this tragedy.

I am from Canberra and unfortunately know 2 of those now identified as having been involved. Whilst I was in no way close to either of them (I know them through work) it makes the pain and shock of what has happened that much more real. 

The community here on Parkz is amazing and reading about what is happening in our theme parks brings a smile to my face each and every day. However this tragedy has just hit a little too close to home and I do not feel that,  for the time being, it is the right place for me to be. I will be back but for now I think a break away from theme parks in general is necessary. 

[MaxxTheMonster]

For anyone who has not yet seen it there was a media release update this morning by QLD Police.  They state that they have not released names and will not do so at this stage.

 

[mission]

This has really shocked me.  I’ve been going to Dreamworld since the mid-eighties when I was around 10 years old up to now with my kids.  It’s always been a place where I/we can go and just have some fun, a world away from the world.

 

This unfortunate tragedy is of a global scale.  I can’t recall (in recent times) any theme park accidents anywhere in the world that have resulted in the death of multiple people.  One death is terrible but four is unimaginable, especially so close to home and especially to a park with, as far as I know, a very good safety record. This will go down in theme park history, a part of the history books you don’t want to be in.

 

While it will take some time for official causes to be determined, I truly hope that it wasn’t human error either on the part of operators/maintenance/ or other park staff.  It’s bad enough the victims’ families having to deal with the loss of loved ones let alone employee’s being found guilty of misconduct and potentially face criminal charges along with the guilt they’ll have to live with if convicted.

 

As for the future of Dreamworld – who knows? I can’t imagine a park of that size and scale will just close up shop but they definitely have a very difficult time ahead of them.

 

And finally, I’d like to pay my respects to those who died, the families left without loved ones, and park patrons, staff and emergency workers who witnessed this tragic event. 

 

I meant to add, the treatment of this event by most media outlets is nothing short of disgusting.

Edited October 25, 2016 by mission
Updated

[Harold]

Public displays of grief on boards like this are for the personal benefit of the griever, not the victims or their families. Nothing particularly wrong with that, but that's what it is. 

Edited October 25, 2016 by Harold

[andrewt92]

It's probably too soon for this, but I wonder if Dreamworld at some stage would erect a memorial for the victims. 

As a park guest it would be nice to pay my respects and also serve as a reminder to enjoy life and all of its thrills as you don't know when your number will be up. 

[New display name]

Staff laying flowers.

Edited October 26, 2016 by YLFATEEKS

[Brad2912]

It's a tragedy that a record for this site, where we come to chat & celebrate something we all love, live and are passionate for, will stand for the darkest day in the history of GC theme parks, and one of the darkest in Australia's theme park History. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I literally just posted the same thing in the Big September thread.

[razza1987]

I posted an article with those pictures a couple of pages back. I can't even begin to imagine how terrified they all must have been when the raft started to tip 

[Brad2912]

3 minutes ago, AlexB said:

I literally just posted the same thing in the Big September thread.

Ahh! Sorry mate missed it all together 

[Ryande16]

The project also just confirmed that the ride was cleared during its maintenance inspection by external poeple late last month.

[diesal11]

For those who can't find it, Ardent have made another Press Release:

http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20161026/pdf/43cbh15qtpbqxw.pdf

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

[joz]

****MODERATOR NOTE****

 

Many posts have been removed from this thread.  Mostly they are about topics not directly relating to the accident (re-opening the ride, reactions to erroneous media reports, trolling and the like). 

 

This thread is for the discussion about the CONFIRMED information only, and reactions to that information.  If it hasn't been released by Dreamworld, QPS, QAS, or an official body making representations on behalf of those organizations, it doesn't belong in this thread.  Unconfirmed media reports are not to be placed in this thread.  If the conversation about the confirmed information becomes speculative, it will be moved.  (IE speculation about why the raft flipped)

 

If you wish to discuss those topics, please do so in the following thread:

 

Posts from the moment the incident was first reported until QPS making a statement a few hours later have been left in this thread, as they are all genuine first reactions, and when there was so little information around, all many people could do was speculate. 

 

I'm aware that some posts which don't fit into either category still remain, this is due to trying to leave behind a thread which makes sense, particularly as people found the official information at different times.  It's not going to be perfect, so don't get too upset if there are some borderline posts in the wrong thread.  However if there are any obvious posts that shouldn't still be here, or any other comments you have, please message me.  I may take some time in responding, but I will endeavor to do what I can.

 

Please be respectful of others and with expressing your opinions, many of the people personally affected by this tragedy will not doubt read this thread.

 

Thank you for your understanding

- Joz

[stevenagesaint]

It is interesting (and i really do not mean any disrespect or upset when I say interesting) to read the Aussie media reports and the European reports in to this tragedy.

Some on social media are saying that Dreamworld should not re-open, but after the smiler tragedy at Alton Towers (the UK's largest theme park) that was shut for 5 days and the ride for 9 months, on top of that Merlin shut ALL rides from the same manufacturer across all their parks over Europe.

What I have read / seen (and again this is only in press via the net) is Ardent leisure have not really  handled this at all well. This was clearly shown at the Ardent met a press conference.

Merlin Entertainment (who own Alton Towers, Legoland, Sealife Centres etc) controlled the media and kept information flowing and debunked an awful lot of misinformation, on top of that they had senior staff at the hospitals helping the family members of the victims. Some people saw this as risk as normally at corporate level people hide behind laywers.

If you google how Merlin handled the crash, you will see a completely different approach to how Ardent have handled this. If you  take Merlins approach there was empathy to the family, there was support to families and staff at alton towers. 

Unfortunately Merlin saw how tour operator Thomas Cook handled a major incident badly and that distress that it caused, so maybe they had that to look at as poor crisis management. 

Unfortunatly it seems Ardent have / are doing this poorly, what should come first is families of ALL involved. In the case of the smiler crash (and I am sorry to keep using this as an example but it is comparison)  a director made the point on focusing on the people involved. The CEO (Nick Varney) came out early on and did press conferences quickly and again focus on the families. 

At the end of all of this lessons were learned and in the Smilers crash it was human error that caused it. It is still early days on Dreamworld, but from what is being reported / and shown in the media (and I may be wrong being a pom) but it looks like Ardent are not handling this at all well. To have a reporter give you the families telephone number is extremely poor and looks like poor management.

Dreamworld is an iconic park one of those parks whose names is famous world wide and I really do hope answers are found. 

My thoughts are with all affected by this. 

[joz]

I'm almost tempted to make a seperate topic for this, but I think Dreamworld's response for the most part has been pretty good (aside from not liasing with QPS with regards to a reopening timeline), Ardent on the other hand has been appalling.  

Edited October 27, 2016 by joz

[Santa07]

I'd probably prefer to keep it here Joz, it's already hard enough to keep track of all the other topics.

[Themeparkfan]

the thing is that with the smiler incident the people survived  with the Rapids incident were looking at one of the worst the theme park accidents to have occurred globally. In recent times  4 tragic deaths  which could have very very huge consequenses at best it's a computer / manufacturer malfunction and clears dreamworld and ardent  of any wrong doing at worst it's a maintenance neglect issue or a human error issue someone will get charged with neglect for public safety and 4 counts of manslaughter this is why I believe ardent and dreamworld are keeping very quiet about the incident until the investigation is complete  but I do agree Deborah should have reached out to the families much earlier than she did 

Edited October 27, 2016 by Themeparkfan

[Jamberoo Fan]

Just now, Themeparkfan said:

the thing is that with the smiler incident the people survived  with the Rapids incident were looking at the worst theme park accident to have ever occurred globally.

Not the worst globally. For starters, Luna Park Sydney's Ghost Train fire had 3 additional fatalities. 

[razza1987]

4 minutes ago, Themeparkfan said:

the thing is that with the smiler incident the people survived  with the Rapids incident were looking at the worst theme park accident to have ever occurred globally. 4 tragic deaths  which could have very very huge consequenses at best it's a computer / manufacturer malfunction and clears dreamworld and ardent  of any wrong doing at worst it's a maintenance neglect issue or a human error issue someone will get charged with neglect for public safety and 4 counts of manslaughter this is why I believe ardent and dreamworld are keeping very quiet about the incident until the investigation is complete  but I do agree Deborah should have reached out to the families much earlier than she did 

How is it the worst ever theme park tragedy to have happened globally when 7 were killed at the Luna Park ghost train in 1979

[Themeparkfan]

2 minutes ago, razza1987 said:

How is it the worst ever theme park tragedy to have happened globally when 7 were killed at the Luna Park ghost train in 1979

I have corrected my comment apologies I always  thought only 2 died at Luna 

[razza1987]

5 minutes ago, Themeparkfan said:

I have corrected my comment apologies I always  thought only 2 died at Luna 

I can understand why you thought that though. The mother who lost her family that day is the main person who talks about it

[Richard]

Though the cause of the 1979 fire at Luna Park was never determined, the general consensus is either arson or electrical faults. Neither of these really fall into what I would class as a typical theme park incident, in the same way that a tidal wave or meteorite wouldn't be classed as a theme park incident.

15 minutes ago, Themeparkfan said:

at best it's a computer / manufacturer malfunction and clears dreamworld and ardent  of any wrong doing

Absolutely not. They would be completely liable in this scenario.

[Themeparkfan]

5 minutes ago, Richard said:

Though the cause of the 1979 fire at Luna Park was never determined, the general consensus is either arson or electrical faults. Neither of these really fall into what I would class as a typical theme park incident, in the same way that a tidal wave or meteorite wouldn't be classed as a theme park incident.

Absolutely not. They would be completely liable in this scenario.

Really? I thought The manufacturer would then be liable if it was a factory flaw ?

Edited October 27, 2016 by Themeparkfan