Finalisation of inquiry into the Thunder River Rapids Ride tragedy at Dreamworld ‘nothing scandalous’

Coroner James McDougall will this morning hand down his final recommendations into what happened about 2pm on October 25, 2016.

“NOTHING scandalous” is expected to come out of the finalisation into the inquiry into the Thunder River Rapids Ride tragedy at Dreamworld.

Coroner James McDougall will this morning hand down his final recommendations into what happened about 2pm on October 25, 2016.

Four people – Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozbeh Araghi and Cindy Low – lost their lives when a pump stopped working on the Thunder River Rapids Ride for the third time that day just after 2pm. The water levels dropped and a raft became stuck on a conveyor belt.

Queensland Emergency service personnel are seen at amusement theme park Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Four people have died after an accident on a ride at Dreamworld. The victims became trapped on a conveyor belt at the theme park after a raft they were in flipped on the Thunder River Rapids ride on Tuesday afternoon. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)

That raft was hit by another carrying Mr Dorsett, his sister Ms Goodchild, her daughter Ebony, 12, Mr Araghi, Ms Low and her son, Kieran, 10. The raft flipped and the four adults were killed.

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The two children remained strapped in the raft until onlookers were able to free them.

Sources told the Bulletin the recommendations handed down by Mr McDougall are not expected to be “scandalous” and will most likely be aimed at Dreamworld’s owner Ardent Leisure and the state regulator.

The length of time it is has taken for the inquest to be concluded has left some lawyers feeling “sorry” for Ardent Leisure.

One lawyer told the Bulletin the constant delays meant the tragedy was continuously being spoken about meaning the theme park was unable to move on.

The reason for the delay includes the huge volume of information Mr McDougall has had to consider.

The inquest stared in June 2018 with more than six weeks of hearing spread over that year.

Mr McDougall also had to sift through the terabyte of data which made up the brief.

Dreamworld also dumped thousands of pages of new information on the inquest after the hearings had started.

Young girls walk through a floral tribute outside the Dreamworld Theme Park on the Gold Coast, Friday, Oct. 28, 2016. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)

Mr McDougall is also continuing with his regular workload.

Since the inquest started he has conducted at least three other inquests only one of which has been finalised due to delays in evidence.

In the 2017-2018 financial year, the South Eastern region, including the Gold Coast, Beenleigh and Logan, had 96 cases which were older than two years and were yet to be finalised.

The annual report for the 2018-2019 is not available.

Mr McDougall will hand down his recommendations from Brisbane at 10am this morning.