Family members of two of the four people killed on the Dreamworld Thunder River Rapids Ride hold the theme park ‘totally responsible’.
Relatives said the tragedy has ‘throttled the family’ in a statement released by their lawyers to the Gold Coast Bulletin.
Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi lost their lives in the tragedy on the Gold Coast, Queensland in October 2016.
Family members of two of the four people killed on the Dreamworld Thunder River Rapids Ride hold the theme park ‘totally responsible’
Sydney mother Cindy Low (pictured) was one of four people killed in the Dreamworld tragedy
The tragedy also claimed the life of Luke Dorsett (pictured)
The family of Ms Goodchild and Mr Dorsett said they were ‘tired’, ‘devastated’ and horrified by the evidence that has come out of the Coronial Inquest.
‘We hold Dreamworld totally responsible for this tragic event that could have so easily been avoided.
‘It has throttled our family.’
Relatives of Kate Goodchild (pictured) and Mr Dorsett said the tragedy has ‘throttled the family’
The raft containing the victims collided with another raft and dropped the guests into the conveyor system in October 2016.
All four victims were killed instantly from compressive and crushing injuries.
The inquest was told on Friday a similar incident to the October 2016 tragedy occurred in November 2014.
Luke Dorsett’s partner Roozi Araghi (pictured) was also killed
Dreamworld sacked a ride attendant after a raft collision on the Thunder River Rapids ride almost two years before the fatal incident that killed four people.
Steven Whybrow, barrister for the families of Ms Goodchild and Mr Dorsett, paraphrased a letter about the termination of a park employee after the incident.
Mr Whybrow said the ride operator shut down a water pump on the ride without knowing the location of all the rafts.
‘A raft containing guests bottomed out at the top of the conveyor due to a lack of water supply,’ he said.
‘An additional raft containing guests has then hit it and it has continued to be pushed by the conveyor until the conveyor was shut down.’
No one was harmed in the 2014 incident.
Kim Dorsett (pictured) mother of siblings Kate Goodchild and her brother Luke Dorsett is pictured at the inquest
Dreamworld employee Chloe Brix was questioned about the termination by Mr Whybrow, admitting she only knew it related to a ‘safety issue’ due to ‘gossip’ among staff.
A park engineer who serviced the 30-year-old attraction on the day of the tragedy revealed he did not know it was Dreamworld policy for a ride to be temporarily shut down after two malfunctions in a 24-hour period.
The company’s breakdown policy stated an engineering supervisor needed to be informed and had to give authority to reset an attraction in that case.
The raft containing the victims collided with another raft and dropped the guests into the conveyor system in October 2016.
The Thunder River Rapids ride’s south water pump failed twice on the day of the tragedy before a third malfunction led to the fatal incident.
‘Prior to that day I had a different understanding on how to proceed with a breakdown,’ engineer Matthew Robertson told the inquest.
‘On the third breakdown I was to advise a supervisor and not progress further.’
Mr Robertson said he and another mechanical engineer had sought permission from electrical staff to reset the pump after it failed.
‘They were distracted that day. They had other electrical issues elsewhere at the park,’ he said.
‘The guests were getting irritable.’
After the pump failed a second time, Mr Robertson said he and the colleague reset it without the presence of electrical staff before telling a supervisor the ride would be shut down if it failed a third time.
Shayne Goodchild, father of victim Kate Goodchild, pictured at the court
Mr Robertson said on a shift as a park technician he could be called out to up to 20 ‘Code Sixes’ (malfunctions) across the park’s attractions.
He admitted he and his colleague had ‘merely identified the symptom’ of the pump failure not its cause.
Both Mr Robertson and Ms Brix said they had neither CPR nor first aid training.
The inquest resumes on Monday.