Eugene Mahauariki inquest heard inexperienced operator was running ride when boy fell

An inquest heard the boy’s siblings were screaming at the operator to slow down or stop the ride when they saw the two six-year-olds sliding around in their seats — but instead it got faster.

An inexperienced staff member was operating a ride on the afternoon a six-year-old boy fell off a carnival ride and sustained fatal injuries, a witness has told an inquest.

The information came to light during the second day of a two-week inquest into the death of Eugene Allen Mahauariki, who sustained a “catastrophic head injury” after slipping under the safety bar and falling from his favourite ride, the Cha Cha, during an Easter carnival hosted on Rye Foreshore on April 17, 2017.

The little boy was airlifted to the Royal Children’s Hospital but never regained consciousness.

He died four days later when his life support was switched off.

On Tuesday, a second witness — experienced ride operator and supervisor Tangi Tungaane Goodnight — gave evidence to the inquest.

The former Wittingslow employee worked her way up the ranks during more than seven years with the business.

It was just after 5pm when somebody called out “last ride”, the inquest heard.

Eugene, all of his siblings and some extended family members piled into the ride, along with some other carnival patrons.

Work Safe investigate at the scene. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Wearing a “Justice for Eugene” sign taped to her shirt, she explained she was working on a nearby ride when she heard yelling followed by “what sounded like a gunshot” from the direction of the Cha Cha ride, and she and another patron dropped to the ground.

She then heard her brother — Eugene’s father, who was also a ride operator but wasn’t operating the ride at the time — cry out “my baby” as he ran towards it.

Ms Goodnight told the inquest she had spoken with Eugene’s older siblings after he was taken to hospital, who had told her they had started yelling at the operator to slow down or stop the ride when they saw the two six-year-olds sliding around in their seats but instead it got faster before he slipped out.

She said movement in the carts was meant to be taken as a signal for operators to slow down or stop the thrill ride.

“It would appear this did not occur which I believe was due to the inexperience of the operator.”

The inquest also heard from two other witnesses — Krystal McLeod and Benjamin Jones.

Mr Jones said his children’s heights were not checked before they were led into the ride and during it he noticed one attendant operating the ride, but did not know where the other staff member was who had seated them.

He became emotional recalling that he later learned his youngest daughter should not have been seated in a cart on her own.

Eugene Mahauariki, 6, died at the Rye carnival

“Now knowing the minimum height requirement to ride on her own, my eight-year-old should not have been in a carriage on her own.”

He said the accident “quite easily” could have involved his daughter.

Ms Goodnight had earlier noted the staff member who was operating the ride that afternoon normally only worked as an assistant to the ride operator — checking heights and that people were strapped in properly and that he had previously told her he didn’t feel comfortable operating the ride.

She also gave evidence that two staff members should always have been operating the ride together for “safety reasons”.

On Monday, counsel assisting the coroner, Rachel Ellyard, said the inquest would examine the circumstances of his death.

She said the inquest would examine the training given to staff operating the ride and whether the ride — owned and operated by Rosebud-based company Wittingslow Carnivals Pty Ltd — was being operated safely.

This included enforcing height requirements, which she said there was evidence to support a suggestion not always enforced.

“Eugene was tall enough to ride alone, though on the evidence he never had,” Ms Ellyard said, adding his cousin was too short to ride alone, so should have been placed on the ride next to an adult.

She noted it was “not clear” whether the ride operator decided to place the pair together or if they climbed into the same cart by themselves.

Ms Ellyard said the inquest would also examine how the operator determines how fast or long the ride should last for, with evidence also suggesting people on the ride were calling for it to slow down before the accident.

The inquest heard Worksafe had filed a charge against Wittingslow in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, alleging risks with the restraint system on the ride, but these charges were later withdrawn.

Eugene’s father, Stacey Mahauariki, also gave evidence on Monday.

The inquest continues.