Woman hit by Melbourne show rollercoaster while retrieving phone

A woman in her 20s is in a critical condition after being struck by a rollercoaster carriage at the Melbourne Royal Show in an accident that police say occurred while she was attempting to retrieve a dropped mobile phone.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said officers were still working to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident at the Rebel Coaster, where a crime scene had been established.

However, they said their initial investigations had appeared to show that the woman was retrieving a phone when she was hit by a roller-coaster about 5.45pm on Sunday.

“Sadly the woman was then found injured on the ground,” the police statement said.

The woman suffered head injuries in the incident and was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Vision from the scene also showed staff carrying out works on a rollercoaster that appeared to have stopped. A number of riders were seen in a carriage.

The Melbourne Royal Show issued a statement late Sunday confirming the woman was injured on the Rebel Coaster ride.

“We are working closely with the ride operator, WorkSafe Victoria and Victoria Police to investigate the issue further; however, we can confirm that no one has fallen from the ride.”

A spokesperson said the ride in question will be closed for the foreseeable future.

One show attendee, Nathan Sandars, said he had recently left the show-bag pavilion when he saw out of the corner of his eye something fall and heard screams.

“Me and my friend were like ‘what the hell was that?’” said the 18-year-old.

The accident happened on the fourth day of the show.Credit: Nathan Sandars

“They were quite quick to act, they put up the barrier quite quickly and then there was an ambulance down and the crowd gathered around and they started pushing people away saying nothing happened… but obviously at the end of the day you don’t want to scare people.

“There were huge crowds of people.”

At about 7.30pm on Sunday, a spokeswoman from the Royal Melbourne Hospital said the woman remained in a critical condition.

Detectives from the Yarra Crime Investigation Unit were still at the scene and will work with WorkSafe “to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident”.

The accident happened on the fourth day of the Royal Melbourne Show which has been sold out after a two-year COVID-induced hiatus.

Anyone who witnessed the incident and hasn’t spoken to police is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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