'Thunder River Rapids' Incident - Story On 'Sunday Night'

[Jamberoo Fan]

From Sunday Night (Click this link for a 41 second preview of the story):

Quote

THIS WEEK ON SUNDAY NIGHT: Seven seconds to tragedy

Seven seconds is all it took to end four young lives when a raft tipped over on the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld. It was a tragedy that profoundly shocked the nation. But, for one woman, the horror of that day is unbearable. Both of Kim Dorsett’s children, Luke Dorsett and Kate Goodchild, died in the accident. Sunday Night's Alex Cullen joins Kim’s search for the truth - and learn how, amidst all the chaos, an act of courage saved the life of her granddaughter.

The unmissable story - Sunday at 8pm on Channel 7.

[Levithian]

Half truths used as headlines to make everything seem more sinister even though the accident and the findings at the inquest answer those questions and fill in the blanks instead of cherry picking.

They had an opportunity to tell a story from the other family. A genuine story without having to beat things up because the tragedy only needs good, honest reporting to drive home the loss. Instead it looks like they resort to usual tabloid journalism. 

Edited August 25, 2018 by Levithian

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

Just watched it

Was not presenting detailed facts on what went wrong or inquest findings but rather a focus on the victims day prior to Dreamworld and the lead up and ultimately when it happened.

They had already been twice that week after coming to the Gold Coast for a wedding which turned into a holiday. Instead of going to sea world, they returned to Dreamworld for the third time. When the ride reopened after being down they queued and we’re given a spot infront of them which brought them further up the queue. The rest has already been stated

[Jamberoo Fan]

2 hours ago, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

Was not presenting detailed facts on what went wrong or inquest findings... . The rest has already been stated

I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure they revealed some more new information. The reporter, Alex Cullen, said that the raft got stuck about a minute before they reached the end of the conveyor belt and Kim Dorsett described the CCTV footage, which was played in a closed court: The raft didn't immediately flip but hit the raft in front about 3 times before flipping - that sounds like, to me, a long time.

The reporter's quote is below:

Quote

The raft in front is stuck on the conveyor belt. There's still almost a minute before the Dorsett's raft will arrive and there's an emergency button that can stop this ride in just 2 seconds but that button is never pushed.

Kim Dorsett's quote, describing the CCTV footage, is below:

Quote

I was then able to understand what happened, um, how it happened because you saw the pumps go out and you saw the water level drop then you saw them coming down the conveyor belt and then the 2 rafts hit. They hit the raft in front then they hit it again and then they hit it again and as they hit it the, the last time, the, um, raft in front tipped their raft slightly and the conveyor belt grabbed the raft and sent it vertical.

The story can be found as part of the full Sunday Night TV episode which can now be found on 7plus and starts at the 19:57 mark. The story runs for about 24 minutes.

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/current-affairs/kim-dorsett-tells-of-the-joy-courage-and-despair-of-her-familys-final-moments/news-story/c997488ea4e37731a8f398aa9c99beb2

Written version of report

Key facts

They’d already been to Dreamworld twice.

The siblings had been debating whether or not to go to SeaWorld.

“I don’t know who said what, but someone just said ‘We’re just going to Dreamworld’.

Dorsett said she was not happy with how Ardent Leisure had handled the tragedy. Especially Chief executive Deborah Thomas.

“I don’t know what they were thinking, but she had said that she’d spoken to the family members,” Dorsett said. “I think I did get a bit annoyed at that, because I knew that wasn’t true.”

Then, the ride was reopened.

Standing in the queue, another family stepped aside to allow the Dorsetts to take their place.

Then, as the six-person raft was at the peak of its track, the equipment failed.

 

[Slick]

I'm really confused why Dreamworld would let a film crew and journo into the park to create content that's ultimately generating negative publicity for the park.

[webslave]

Likely because the flip-side of that is them filming a refusal at the gate.

[Slick]

53 minutes ago, webslave said:

Likely because the flip-side of that is them filming a refusal at the gate.

Yeah, nahhhh.

The park's standard form of reply on any media request regarding the Rapids Ride so far has been refusal out of respect of the inquiry, so in that regard a lot of people would respect the park's decision to not let media inside the park to openly report on the Rapids Ride, especially when the park's open and guests and staff are within ear-shot. 

Very strange.

[webslave]

I dunno, if I'm looking at that from the other side it's easy to slap together a teaser for a story with your basics;

"What do you have to hide from us and the public?"
"How do you think the families of the victims are feeling as the inquest progresses?"

Hell, if you wanted to go for maximum scum-media points you could roll up at the gate with a cammo, a soundie, a reporter and a family member of a victim.  All of a sudden you're faced with the prospect of getting footage of the park telling the family member of a victim that they can't come in.

[Slick]

1 hour ago, webslave said:

I dunno, if I'm looking at that from the other side it's easy to slap together a teaser for a story with your basics;

"What do you have to hide from us and the public?"
"How do you think the families of the victims are feeling as the inquest progresses?"

Hell, if you wanted to go for maximum scum-media points you could roll up at the gate with a cammo, a soundie, a reporter and a family member of a victim.  All of a sudden you're faced with the prospect of getting footage of the park telling the family member of a victim that they can't come in.

The great irony here is that in defence of notion that there's nothing strange/suspect happening here you have to presume that the journo had to be dodgy to get the story across the line in the first place. 

Ardent & Dreamworld has barristers and crisis PR who would 100% need to pre-approve any involvement in a story about the incident, so then after nearly two years of refusal out of respect of the inquiry, in my mind I think "why are they suddenly getting involved with news/media so close to the inquiry & what's their incentive of being involved with a piece like this?"

 

Edited August 27, 2018 by Roachie

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

This is before hours, I don’t think your getting that.

They are getting special access to the park. Although my theory is Dreamworld wanted to show their rides testing before the park opened.. probably not the case however 

[Slick]

5 minutes ago, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

This is before hours, I don’t think your getting that.

They are getting special access to the park. Although my theory is Dreamworld wanted to show their rides testing before the park opened.. probably not the case however 

Filming was before open and during open. His pieces to camera was a mixture of times throughout the day and Kim was in the park to see the rides running so your point and theory is definitely, 100% not the case.

Do you really think that they went to film ride testing but planned instead to try and pull a fast one on Dreamworld, smuggled in Kim Dorset somewhere between gatehouse sign in and the park itself, and despite being chaperoned at all times by the park’s team they were never once stopped whilst they filmed talking heads, pieces to camera and overlay that would’ve taken at least to two hours to shoot?

[red dragin]

Did the request come from Kim perhaps, as part of the healing process? Ardent would struggle to refuse a request from a family member.

There might have been a psychologist off camera for all we know, funded by Channel 7 of course. 

[Slick]

2 minutes ago, red dragin said:

Did the request come from Kim perhaps, as part of the healing process? Ardent would struggle to refuse a request from a family member.

There might have been a psychologist off camera for all we know, funded by Channel 7 of course. 

I'm positively sure if any of the family of the victims wanted to visit the park again that Dreamworld would stop at nothing to make sure their visit is stress-free and welcoming, however, it's a wholly different situation to filming a news piece inside the park whilst a coronial inquest is ongoing.

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

No, they would've known she was going to be taken in the park but in the background rides would be testing

[Slick]

55 minutes ago, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

No, they would've known she was going to be taken in the park but in the background rides would be testing

There's people on the rides.

I think you should re-watch the segment - https://7plus.com.au/sunday-night/

Edited August 28, 2018 by Roachie

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

2 hours ago, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

No, they would've known she was going to be taken in the park but in the background rides would be testing

Oh my god would you just shut up???

Everything you are saying is a theory, a guess, or a presumption, but you present them as fact.

You say 'No'

You say 'they would've known'

But unless you work for the park, you have no proof, unless you can produce something else that confirms or endorses what you are saying.

 

So instead of just trying to blindly defend your position, accept the possibility that you could be wrong, or, the person replying to you could be wrong, and leave it at that? You've had several opportunities now to clarify your position, but you just keep presenting more and more opinion as fact without substance.

[Jdude95]

Okay, I've talked to a couple of my contacts who work at DW and they have told me the details around this segment. Sunday Night/Channel 7 reached out to the park outlining what their plans were, including bringing Kim through the park. The park was more than happy to allow Kim and the Sunday Night team to visit the park because Kim was involved. If it was just Channel 7 trying to bash the park again, they most likely wouldn't have been allowed. They were brought into the park 1-2 hours before opening and continued filming once the park was open. Kim left after the walkaround with her was done and the Sunday Night crew stayed to film the last of whatever the needed. The entire time they were chaperoned around the park by management.

Any further questions?

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

7 hours ago, AlexB said:

Oh my god would you just shut up???

Everything you are saying is a theory, a guess, or a presumption, but you present them as fact.

You say 'No'

You say 'they would've known'

But unless you work for the park, you have no proof, unless you can produce something else that confirms or endorses what you are saying.

 

So instead of just trying to blindly defend your position, accept the possibility that you could be wrong, or, the person replying to you could be wrong, and leave it at that? You've had several opportunities now to clarify your position, but you just keep presenting more and more opinion as fact without substance.

I’m not blindly defending my position and I do accept that @Roachiewas right. Just clarifying what I though could’ve happen. And I know I can communicate that with him because he won’t have an unnecessary anger outburst about literally nothing. I’d hate to see how you deal with things that are actually worth being angry about ...

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

15 hours ago, Jdude95 said:

Any further questions?

 

Do you know if they had any contact with her when she arrived, like I just wonder what they would say or how they would deal with it. I just wonder if they spoke to her and what they said.

[Brad2912]

4 hours ago, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

Do you know if they had any contact with her when she arrived, like I just wonder what they would say or how they would deal with it. I just wonder if they spoke to her and what they said.

Seriously...?

Any more wondering and you’ll get a headache. 

Im sure management would have greeted her, and then given her space, but offered and ensured they were on hand if she required anything. 

[Jdude95]

DW also reached out to a Psych to be on-site in case it was too much for Kim and she needed someone to talk to. They were very accommodating