The company that owns and operates Dreamworld is now facing a whopping fine of $4.5million after it was officially charged for the fatal tragedy on its Thunder River Rapids ride in late 2016, where a serious malfunction caused the death of four people on the ride at the Gold Coast theme park.
Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, and Roozi Araghi died when the water pump on the rapids ride malfunctioned. Two unnamed children were also on the ride but managed to escape relatively unharmed.
Following an extensive Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) assessment, the Ardent Leisure Group has now been slapped with three Category 2 charges at the Brisbane Magistrates Court.
Under the WHS Act 2011, a category 2 offence involves “a person failing to comply with a duty that exposes an individual to risk of death or serious injury”, attracting maximum fines of $1.5 million each.
As reported by the ABC, the parent company made the official statement to the Australian stock exchange, confirming the charges had been filed under the Work Health and Safety act. The charges were laid after a coronial inquest found the theme park’s safety and maintenance were problematic, and the Thunder River Rapids ride was completely unsafe during its entire career.
The 300-page report handed down by Coroner James McDougall also noted that the record-keeping and maintenance of the rides at Dreamworld were “shoddy” and a major tragedy like the fatality in 2016 was “only a matter of time.”
