Dreamworld tragedy was ‘preventable’, inquest hears

ON a stunning opening day of evidence, investigators told an inquest the tragic events at Dreamworld in October, 2016, could have been prevented if any number of safety measures had been in place.

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AN URGENT memo warning staff not to press a button that could have averted the Dreamworld tragedy was issued days before four people died on the Thunder River Rapids, an inquest has been told.

On a stunning opening day of evidence, investigators yesterday told the inquest the tragic events in October, 2016, could have been prevented if any number of safety measures had been in place.

It was revealed a “priority urgent” memo had been issued just days before the tragedy “dissuading” staff from pressing a button which would have stopped the fatal conveyor belt in just two seconds, while a senior ride operator panicked and didn’t know which button to press.

The tragedy bore eerie similarities to a 2001 incident where an empty raft flipped, leaving a park staffer “shuddering to think” what could have happened if passengers had been onboard.

Police investigators also raised concerns about the lack of effective seat restraints, modifications to planks lining the conveyor belt, communication problems between ride operators and confusion over ride shut-down buttons.

Detective Sergeant Nicola Brown, the officer in charge of the investigation, and Senior Constable Steven Cornish, working with the forensic crash unit, each spent several hours in the witness stand before Coroner James McDougall, revealing details about the catastrophic case which shocked the nation.

Sgt Brown said the control panel where senior operator Peter Nemeth was stationed was “confusing” and contributed to the tragedy.

“He panicked and he wasn’t sure at the moment of stress which button to press,” she said.

“A lack of labelling ... could definitely be improved.”

Sen-Constable Cornish said the tragedy could have been avoided if an emergency stop button next to young ride operator Courtney Williams had been activated at any stage before the last second.

However, in an interview with investigators, she said she had been told “not to worry” about the button and “no one uses it”.

Investigators found no evidence that the button had ever been activated.

“They (the rafts) touched together three times (before standing up vertically),” SenConstable Cornish said.

“If it had been pressed (then) it still would have stopped in time.”

Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozi Araghi and Cindy Low all died on the ride, while two children miraculously were spared, one saved due to the quick actions of Ms Williams.

The inquest was told the group of six entered a raft on the Thunder River Rapids just after 2pm on October 25.

The ride was shut twice earlier in the day due to a failure of the south pump to keep the water level high enough.

While the problem was resolved both times before the ride was reopened, it happened again just one minute before the group boarded the ride.

It caused the empty raft in front of the ill-fated group to become stuck at the bottom of a conveyor belt. Less than a minute later, the two rafts collided.

The inquest was told of concerns over operating procedures which left the responsibility for shutting down the ride to a central controller further down the ride platform.

However, that controller, Mr Nemeth, could only access a button which stopped the conveyor belt in nine seconds.

Sen-Constable Cornish said if the two-second stop button was in the main control area the tragedy could also have been avoided.

Also, the installation of proper safety harnesses instead of the flimsy Velcro straps could also have saved lives, he said.

“He (Luke Dorsett) would not have fallen in,” he said.

Sen-Constable Cornish was asked why a memorandum was sent out urging operators not to press the button which would have stopped the conveyor belt in just two seconds.

“We asked that question and we didn’t get an answer,” he said.

Sen-Constable Cornish was frank when asked about the flaws with the ride.

“There is no automatic shut down for the entire ride,” he said.

“If one component failed, the other would keep going.

“You have operators with conflicting roles who had access to some buttons but not to others. It severely lacks automation that is available.”

Dreamworld’s response to questions about the lack of an over-riding emergency stop button for the attraction was underwhelming, he said.

“(We were told) don’t know, not sure, it’s being looked at,” he said. Acting for the family of Cindy Low, Steven Whybrow said any number of modifications were capable of potentially avoiding the disaster.

He also suggested automatic shut-downs when the water levels got too low, instead of relying on operators to take visual cues from scum levels on the sides of the river.

Investigators tried more than 20 times to recreate the tragedy with crash test dummies but were unable to.

The inquest is expected to run until the end of next week before adjourning until later in the year.