Yesterday we brought your the horrific news of two adult males and two adult females getting killed on the Thunder Rivers Rapid ride located at the Dreamworld amusement park, the only river rapids ride in Australia.
One raft reportedly flipped after a crash and the victims were tossed onto a conveyor belt, according to Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd. This resulted in “persons being variously caught in machinery”.
What makes the incident more tragic is that the young children of the two women that were killed on the ride managed to escape, but witnessed their mothers’ deaths. The children are aged 10 and 12.
Today, an Australian radio show host has been suspended indefinitely after making a joke about the tragedy mere hours after the news broke. Host Anna Dare took part in a “secret sound” game on radio station 7HOFM. The game consists of a sound being played for the listeners and they have to guess what it is for a chance to win money.
After the sound was played, Anna regretfully said: “It’s not getting stuck in a conveyor belt at a theme park is it? Too soon?” Her co-hosts gasped and played a song to divert the attention.
Listen below:
The joke was undoubtedly in poor taste and Anna deserves to be suspended for a couple days as a “take a lap” gesture for bad judgement. But, before we nail her to the cross, it’s important to recognize that it was just an attempt to find humor in a tragic situation. Making light of something like this is insensitive, but me calling someone out for making a joke too soon is like Lindsay Lohan telling me I drink too much.
[h/t Mirror]