http://news.sky.com/story/drayton-manors-splash-canyon-closed-over-patient-in-water-10870380

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An 11-year-old girl on a school trip has died after falling into the water from a river rapids ride at a Staffordshire theme park.

The Splash Canyon attraction was shut on Tuesday after she fell into the water.

Staffordshire Police said the girl, believed to be from the Leicester area, was airlifted to Birmingham Children's Hospital at about 14:20 BST.

She was confirmed dead shortly after arrival at hospital.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "On arrival, crews discovered a girl with serious injuries who had been rescued from the water by park staff.

"Ambulance staff administered advanced life support before she was flown to Birmingham Children's Hospital with the doctor continuing treatment en-route.

"Unfortunately, shortly after arrival at hospital the girl passed away."

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Splash Canyon

• The ride opened in 1993
• It is described as a river rapids ride on circular boats
• It comprises 21 boats with a maximum capacity of six people per boat
• There is a height restriction. You must be taller than 90cms (2.9ft) to ride and anyone shorter than 1.1m (3.6ft) must be accompanied by an adult

 

From the images and description the ride sounds very much like the TRRR. Will be interesting to see if the media links the two.

Either way horrible incident and thoughts to the family.

Edited May 9, 20179 yr by elemist

Why are so many accidents happening? Especially on these River rapid rides

The river Rapids again? Wow.. rip 😥

I would have thought it should be impossible to "fall" into the water unless you removed your harness and moved around the boat while it was moving.

If that's what happened then it's the fault of the girl/ her parents.

At least it's not the same as the Dreamworld incident as no ride fault occurred.

Obviously still horrible but I hope it doesn't cause the ride to shut down.

4 hours ago, elemist said:

From the images and description the ride sounds very much like the TRRR. Will be interesting to see if the media links the two.

Was only a matter of time....

Very tragic situation of yet we don't know the circumstances of, but saddened nonetheless

1 hour ago, pushbutton said:

 

I would have thought it should be impossible to "fall" into the water unless you removed your harness and moved around the boat while it was moving.

If that's what happened then it's the fault of the girl/ her parents.

At least it's not the same as the Dreamworld incident as no ride fault occurred.

Obviously still horrible but I hope it doesn't cause the ride to shut down.

 

I haven't seen anything in any article to say whether or not the ride had seatbelts. From my memories or TRRR it was only a velcro belt anyway that was more appearance than function.

It might be a bit early to say whether there was a ride fault or not. On the face of it, that appears to be correct, but in the comments of one of the articles i read there were some mentions of shallow waters and the raft striking the bottom a few weeks prior. Obviously public comment and it was somewhat of an unknown news site - so take it with a grain of salt.

Interesting to note the "full" slats on the conveyor of this ride too..

First of all, obviously a tragic accident, and may our thoughts be with the family, friends, pupils and staff.

Both articles I've skimmed through (Guardian and, for my eternal shame, Daily Mail) mention that the girl had stood up and was moving around the raft whilst it was in motion, trying to change seats.

Yes when you actually bother to take the time to read the articles you will see this was cause by the girl being silly and standing and changing seats mid ride. 

This is such a tragic accident and so soon after Dreamworld on a similar ride. My thoughts are with the family. I was at Drayton Manor last July on a return trip to the UK and their Director George Bryan showed me around. I have sent a message of support to the team this morning.