Mum's biggest regret over 'harrowing' Dreamworld deaths
The heartbroken parents of two of the victims killed in the 2016 Dreamworld rapids ride tragedy have spoken of the pain losing their son and daughter as the findings from an inquest into the four deaths were handed down.
On Monday, Kim Dorsett, the mother of Kate Goodchild, 32, and Luke Dorsett, 35, said her greatest regret was not being there for her children on the day they needed her most.
"I wasn't there," she said while wiping tears from her face.
"The easier part was burying them, the harrowing part is living without them."
The pair's father Shane Goodchild said his grief was exacerbated after learning the malfunction could have been identified before the accident happened.
More than a hundred people packed the Brisbane Coroners Court on Monday to hear the long-awaited findings into the deaths of the siblings, as well as Cindy Low and Mr Dorsett’s partner Roozi Araghi who all died when the Thunder River Rapids ride malfunctioned at the Gold Coast theme park.
The four victims died after being flung into a mechanised conveyor when their raft collided with another and partially flipped.
Ms Goodchild's 12-year-old daughter and Ms Low's 10-year-old son survived the incident.
‘Frighteningly unsophisticated’
Coroner James McDougall said criminal charges could be laid against Dreamworld's owner Ardent Leisure.
He says Dreamworld presented itself as a modern world-class theme park but that safety procedures were rudimentary at best.
On Monday he referred Ardent Leisure to the Office of Industrial Relations to consider whether the company may have committed an offence under workplace laws.
In handing down his findings, he said there was a "systemic failure" by Dreamworld in all aspects of safety.
He described the systems that were in place as "frighteningly unsophisticated".
Mr McDougall said he also found no evidence Dreamworld conducted a thorough engineering risk assessment of the ride in the three decades it was open to the public.
"I find that shoddy record-keeping was a significant contributor to this incident ... (and) contributed to the masking of the real risk of the (ride)," he said.
Ride suffered previous problems
The wide-ranging inquest, which opened in June, has unveiled a "litany of problems" with some experts declaring the tragedy was an accident waiting to happen.
The malfunction was the third that day, and fifth in a week.
Police uncovered multiple incidents involving the ride in the past with two rafts colliding in 2004, throwing a guest into the trough.
Despite recommendations for a single emergency stop, no single shutdown function was installed.
Queensland introduced new safety regulations for amusement rides including mandatory major inspections of rides by qualified engineers every 10 years and improved training for ride operators.
The state also tightened workplace health and safety prosecution laws.
With AAP
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