Hobart couple who rode Thunder River Rapids ride with young kids express their great sadness

A HOBART journalist who took Dreamworld’s Thunder River Rapids ride with her young family just a day before a tragic accident that claimed four lives has expressed her sadness.

A TASMANIAN journalist who took Dreamworld’s Thunder River Rapids ride with her young family just a day before a tragic accident that claimed four lives has expressed her sadness.

WIN TV staffers Alison and Brent Costelloe and their three young children rode the rapids at the Gold Coast theme park on Monday.

Kate Goodchild, 32, brother Luke Dorsett, 35, his partner Roozi Araghi, 38, and 42-year-old woman Cindy Low were killed on the same ride when if malfunctioned yesterday afternoon.

MORE: DREAMWORLD VICTIM’S TRAGIC CHOICE

Mrs Costelloe last night posted happy snaps on the couple’s social media page with the words: “So many laughs and smiles and now so terribly bloody sad”.

The Hobart couple took their children Leo, 11, Fletcher, 4, and Lila, 2, on the Thunder River Rapids as soon as they arrived at the popular theme park on Monday.

Hubby, kids and I did this yesterday. I know it shouldn't matter but praying no kids hurt https://t.co/DPb42t3x05

— Alison Costelloe (@AlisonCostelloe) October 25, 2016

“I’m not a thrillseeker, but it looked the safest ride to me,’’ Ms Costelloe told the Mercury.

“We felt safe enough to take Lila, who is only two.”

As the family queued for the ride, all they could see was the conveyor belt that was at the centre of the tragedy, Ms Costelloe said.

“The conveyor belt is the last bit of the ride — it lifts you out of the water.”

WIN TV sports journalist Brent Costelloe with daughter Lila, 2, on the Thunder River Rapids ride on Tuesday. Picture: SUPPLIED.

The Costelloes’ eldest son Leo, 11, on the ill-fated ride. Picture: SUPPLIED.

A former Dreamworld staffer who has worked at the park for more than a decade told the Gold Coast Bulletin today that the six-seater craft that held the four people who died had nearly finished the ride when it hit an empty raft ahead and flipped.

MORE: WHO IS BEHIND DREAMWORLD

Ms Costelloe said the people who died would have been “only seconds away from safety”.

She said the accident would have happened in front of hundreds of families waiting to board.

“The big thing for me is that so many people would have seen what happened,” she said.

Alison Costelloe with son Fletcher, 4. Picture: SUPPLIED.

Originally published as Hobart couple who rode Thunder River Rapids ride with young kids express their great sadness