Rollercoaster breaks down in Gold Coast theme park - leaves 20 people stranded in air

The breakdown of a rollercoaster in the Warner Bros Movie World theme park in Gold Coast left 20 persons stranded in air 65-feet above the ground. Firefighters had to rescue the passengers, who were left trapped on the Arkham Asylum ride. They were stranded for more than an hour and a half.
At the time temperatures at the theme park had exceeded 30C and the breakdown happened just before the thrillseekers reached a drop on the attraction - this can, at times, reach a top speed of 85km/h.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 11 January 2017.

The incident comes three months after an accident on a ride at nearby theme park Dreamworld in which four persons lost their lives.
In this case, all trapped persons were rescued safely - four of them were lowered from the ride in a cherrypicker and the others via a ladder platform.
Warner Bros Movie World has attributed the blame of the stoppage to a "a mechanical issue with the chain" of the rollercoaster. It may be noted that in November, the ride was cleared after a safety audit of Warner Bros Movie World which had been ordered by Queensland government in the aftermath of the fatal accident on the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamland - this is less than four miles from Warner Bros Movie World.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Gold Coast Dreamworld has been unable to woo back tourists and has remained 'practically empty' during peak season two months after four people were tragically killed on a ride at the theme park. It was the Thunder River Rapids ride and it claimed four lives when they were thrown off a malfunctioning raft and the ride is being decommissioned.
This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 4 January 2017.

The park had reopened on December 10 after being closed for six weeks following the death of four visitors on October 25 - they were in the Thunder River Rapids ride. Ever since that tragedy, the park has not been able to win back the crowds. Slashing ticket prices, extending opening hours and offering free meals have not succeeded in bringing back the crowds.
Many of the rides like the popular Tower of Terror and Giant Drop were closed as they underwent further safety audits and parts of the park remained deserted in what is usually Dreamworld's busiest time of the year.


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Four visitors killed in Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld in Gold Coast

Four people, two men and two women, were killed on the Thunder River Rapids ride at Dreamworld, Coomera, situated on Australia's Gold Coast. The victims were in their 30s and early 40s. The tragedy is attributed to a "malfunction" that caused two of the victims to be "ejected" and two others to be "caught inside" the ride.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 25 October 2016.

The theme park has been closed and an investigation is underway into the cause of the incident. It seems there were six people were on the raft when it flipped on a conveyor belt and four of them were trapped underneath while two managed to jump free. Subsequently, water was drained from the attraction in an attempt to save the trapped passengers.
The Dreamworld website describes the Thunder River Rapids as a "white water rafting" ride which travels at up to 45kph and visitors as young as two years old are allowed on the ride.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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