Earlier this year we heard to grotesque and tragic story of a boy who was decapitated going down a giant water slide and now we have another horrific story related to water at an amusement park.
The Thunder Rivers Rapid ride, the only river rapids ride in Australia, located at the Dreamworld amusement park was the site of a horrible accident which left four people dead in a bizarre accident.
Reports The Australian…
Sources said people had become trapped in a conveyor belt of a flume ride at the theme park.
The Thunder Rivers Rapid ride is the only river rapids ride in Australia. Six riders board circular rafts, with the Dream world website describing the experience as ‘travel down a foamy water track past the Gold Rush Country, speeding up to 45 km/h through the turbulent rapids’.
Riders are understood to have to have been trapped in the conveyor belt, reports The Gold Coast Bulletin.
“My sister and niece were on the ride, they are so traumatised, there is a woman hanging by her foot, crushed from the ride,” a witness told The Gold Coast Bulletin.
Two of the six people who were on the raft were thrown free and into the water, reportedly both were children and have survived.
Police were in the process of notifying the victim’s families early on Tuesday night, and were talking to witnesses at nearby police stations as the bodies began to be recovered at the park.
“It is a complex retrieval involving heavy equipment and that will take several hours,” Inspector Tod Reid said.
Footage of the incident has also been captured on CCTV cameras. “That will be reviewed as part of the investigation,” Inspector Reid said.
Several parkgoers claimed the ride had broken down at least twice earlier in the day and police said those claims would form part of the investigation. “I’m not aware (of earlier problems on the ride) but that will obviously be part of the investigation,” Inspector Reid said.
In related news, Busch Gardens in Tampa has closed their Congo River Rapids ride as a precaution.
“Out of an abundance of caution we have made the decision to close our Congo River Rapids ride while we work with other park operators and ride manufacturers to understand what happened in Australia,” a Busch Gardens spokeswoman said.
Below is video of the media conference regarding the incident…