Emotional Dreamworld staff have marked one year since four people died in a ride accident with a private ceremony at the Gold Coast theme park.
Dozens of staff, Red Cross volunteers and the chairman and board of parent company Ardent Leisure attended the service, which was held before the park opened for the day on Wednesday.
For many the sight of a small collection of floral tributes outside the park and a media presence reignited memories of October 25 tragedy, when a raft on the Thunder River Rapids ride flipped.
A note left amongst floral tributes at Gold Coast theme park Dreamworld on Wednesday
One year on: Flowers can be seen at the entrance to Dreamworld
Gold Coast girl Isabella Kennedy arrives to place flowers at the entrance to Dreamworld
Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi, along with Sydney woman Cindy Low, were all killed in the accident.
‘The service was very well organised and I think it was a good gesture in terms of reflection of what happened,’ Australian Red Cross emergency services state manager Collin Sivalingum said.
‘A day like this one will bring about a lot of emotions, a lot of feelings and a lot of people being upset.
‘One year later we still see these emotions and people feel very connected to this event.’
Mr Sivalingum said Red Cross volunteers would remain inside and outside the park all day to provide support to visitors and staff.
Half a dozen floral tributes were laid at the gates of Dreamworld, in the same spot where hundreds were laid in the days following last year’s tragedy.
The park was open on Wednesday- which marked one year since a ride flipped killing four people
A service was held before the park opened for the day on Wednesday (crowds pictured)
A note with one of the tributes read: ‘For those that were lost, for those that were spared, for those that will never forget, always in our hearts.’
The theme park itself took to social media to mark the anniversary, saying ‘our hearts and thoughts remain with all those affected’ in a tweet.
The park was closed for 45 days following the accident, and in June Ardent reported a $62.6 million loss for the financial year, with visitor numbers estimated to have dropped by as much as 30 per cent.
The family of mother-of-two Ms Low say they are still learning to live without her.
‘Our grief has come in waves but the firsts are especially hard – birthdays, Kieran and Isla’s milestones achieved that she does not get to experience,’ her husband Mathew Low told the Courier-Mail.
An inquest into the disaster is yet to be held, while a Workplace Health and Safety Queensland report has been completed but not publicly released.
Last week Queensland police recommended no criminal charges be laid over the tragedy but said the final decision remains with the coroner.
The Queensland government has passed new industrial manslaughter laws following the tragedy and other high-profile workplace deaths.
The laws however are not retrospective, so would not apply to the Dreamworld tragedy.
Pictured: Mothers Kate Goodchild, 32, (left) and Cindy Low, 42, (right) were killed when their raft flipped
Ms Goodchild’s brother Luke Dorsett (on right) and his partner Roozi Araghi (left) were also killed in the horrific incident
Pictured: The doomed raft of the Thunder River Rapids ride is covered in a black sheet as police inspect the area