Dreamworld disaster: WorkCover takes legal action over Thunder River Rapids ride tragedy that killed Kiwi Cindy Low

By Hamish Spence

news.com.au·

23 Jul, 2022 08:03 PM3 mins to read

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26 October 2016 | It is meant to be one of the happiest places in Australia - a place where all the family can come together for fun, laughter and rides that thrill. But Dreamworld is waking to a nightmare this morning. Four people dead ...

There is a new dispute over the Dreamworld Thunder River Rapids tragedy, with workplace safety watchdog WorkCover taking legal action against the engineer who allegedly said the ride was safe the day before the incident.

Four people were infamously killed on the Gold Coast ride on October 25, 2016 when a raft flipped, causing the passengers inside to be tipped on to a conveyor belt.

Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozbeh Araghi and Cindy Low all died as a result of the incident.

The Thunder River Rapids was permanently closed and Dreamworld's parent company, Ardent Leisure, was convicted and fined $3.6m after pleading guilty to three workplace health and safety charges in 2020.

Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozbeh Araghi and Kiwi woman Cindy Low all died on the Thunder River Rapids Ride in 2016. Photo / Supplied

But now, WorkCover has alleged in a claim filed in the Brisbane Supreme Court that Ardent would not have allowed the ride to run on October 25 if engineer Tom Polley and his company Danski Pty Ltd had not certified that it was safe.

They said Polley and his company were negligent when they gave the ride an inspection certificate and said it was "mechanically and structurally safe" to use in an inspection report given the day before the incident.

But Polley and Danski have filed a defence to the claim, alleging their checks only covered structural and mechanical issues and the deaths were caused by an electrical fault.

They said the incident was caused when one of the water pumps failed, which "was not extant" when they inspected the ride at the time.

Polley alleged that "multiple failures of the south pump" due to electrical faults were "known" about by ride operators and maintenance staff and of "obvious risk of peril to users".

The defence said Ardent was to blame for the tragedy, claiming it "was careless with respect to its obligations concerning rectifications of faults that might jeopardise the safety of users of its rides, including the (ride), and would have continued the operation of the (ride) even if some particular faults had been identified".

They also alleged that Ardent "consistently failed" to comply with its Workplace Health and Safety Act and Workplace Health and Safety Regulations obligations and "would not" have been in compliance with the act.

A picture of Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld from 2007. Photo / Supplied

In its reply to the defence, WorkCover denied that Ardent failed to investigate the malfunctioning water pump or that ride operators and maintenance staff knew there was an "obvious risk of peril" for passengers.