An inquest into the Dreamworld Thunder Rapid’s ride accident that claimed the lives of four people two years ago has produced has left officials scratching their heads.
Inspector Ian Stewart begun his investigation into the ride in 2016 today told Dreamworld staff that the ride was “poorly maintained” and well understaffed, The Guardian reports.
With “at least three or four people” needed to operate the ride safely, the fact that only two operators were in charge of the ride on the day of the accident has been noted to have been “insufficient.”
The ride was reported to be “quite deteriorated” with infrastructure supported by “bits of timber”, with “lots of tasks to monitor and respond to [in] any emergency situation.”
Police at the scene of the incident
Despite a series of earlier incidents on the same ride, Dreamworld had not changed their automatic control system in accordance with safety protocol, a decision which Mr Stewart told coroner James McDougall left him “stunned.”
It was believed that proper automatic controls, including a water level sensor, could have prevented the tragedy, which occurred four months after safety upgrades were made to the attraction.
The four guests, Cindy Lowe, Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett & Roozi Araghi, were killed when a water pump malfunctioned, causing their crafts to collide and subsequently flip.
In his report, Mr Stewart noted that the cause of the accident was heavily influenced by a reliance on the controls, as well as the limitations on the emergency procedures and limited space on the conveyor belt of the ride.
Watch the news report from the day of the tragedy
An eyewitness account from the day, known only as Ben, described the horrific events as happening “in a matter of seconds and whether someone pushed a button or not, nothing could have stopped it.”
“I’ve seen stories blaming people for not acting quickly enough but no human intervention could have saved them.
“The only thing that determined who survived and who didn’t was where their seats were positioned when they entered that final section.”
Shortly after the accident, the ride was demolished
