Amid tears comes need for answers over Dreamworld disaster
AS A numb Kim Dorsett prepares to bury her two children, she refuses to lay their memories to rest until she knows what caused the Dreamworld tragedy.
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AS A numb Kim Dorsett prepares to bury her two children, who died in the Dreamworld tragedy, she refuses to lay their memories to rest until she knows what caused the worst theme park disaster in Australia in 37 years.
While the grieving schoolteacher is on “autopilot” arranging for the bodies of daughter Kate Goodchild, 32, and son Luke Dorsett, 35, to be flown to Canberra today, the words she heard in the phone call announcing their deaths ring in her ears.
“She keeps saying the phone call she received from her daughter’s mother in-law saying ‘Kate and Luke are dead’ is still a joke,” her best friend, Sandra Brookfield, told The Courier-Mail.
“She wants answers and will definitely be seeking compensation once the shock wears off. She never imagined she’d be arranging her own children’s funerals.
“She is worried sick for her two grandchildren, who will now be raised without their mother; they will need all the emotional and financial help they can get.”
Ms Dorsett, 59, who is divorced from husband Shayne Goodchild and raised her three children, including son Jeremy, 37, as a single mother, was told by Kate’s mother-in-law, Gillian Turner, that Kate and Luke died when the raft carrying them on the Thunder River Rapids ride malfunctioned.
It flipped killing them almost instantly.
Sydney mother Cindy Low, 42, and Luke’s partner, Roozi Araghi, 38, also died in the tragedy that saw holiday-makers running from the Goldrush Country section of the park screaming.
Mrs Low’s son, Kieran, 10, also witnessed his mother’s death.
He and Kate’s daughter, Ebony, 12, were both thrown clear of the water or machinery and survived by “providence of God”, police said.
Kate’s partner, David Turner, 33, raced towards her with daughter Evie, eight months, in a pram.
He scaled the fence and waded through the muddy water, but was too late.
The high school sweetheart he had known for 15 years died in his arms as he cried desperately, with Ebony screaming for her mother.
“Ebony now keeps asking, ‘Why did we go to Dreamworld?’ ” Mrs Brookfield said.
“ ‘Why mummy, why Luke?’ she keeps asking. She’s blaming herself.
“That vivid memory will live with her (Ebony) for a long, long time, probably a lifetime.”
As engineers and scientific police continue to comb the site of the popular ride for crucial information for the coronial report, the grieving families still struggle to accept the enormity of their loss and vow to seek legal action against Dreamworld owners Ardent Leisure.
Police believe something in the ride malfunctioned, causing an empty raft to stop moving forward.
When the second raft came to an uphill conveyor belt, it bumped into the first and flipped over, tossing the holiday-makers onto the wooden conveyor belt and surrounding water.
Yesterday Kate’s grieving partner, David, was silent as he joined Mr Goodchild to express their sorrow at a press conference.
Mr Goodchild said: “Less than three days ago, Dave lost the love of his life and the mother of their children in the most tragic of circumstances.
“I have lost my only daughter, Kate, and my youngest son, Luke. We have also lost Roozi, a man who, as Luke’s beloved partner, I considered to be another son.
“It has also left her two beautiful daughters, Ebony and Evie, without a mum.
“Dave not only has to deal with his own grief but be strong for their daughters and a rock for Ebony …
“To say ‘this is just not fair’ doesn’t begin to express our despair.
“No-one wants those answers more than we do.”
Dreamworld says the park will remain closed until after the funerals.
Its management has since released lengthy statements underlining the River Rapids ride passed its annual mechanical and structural safety engineering inspection four weeks ago on September 29.
It is the country’s biggest theme park tragedy since seven people died in a fire on Luna Park’s Ghost Train in 1979.
Originally published as Amid tears comes need for answers over Dreamworld disaster
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