Family And Witness Speak Out About Dreamworld Tragedy
'She just kept screaming "Where’s Mummy? Where’s Mummy?"'
By Practical Parenting
October 26 2016
As the victims of yesterday’s tragic accident at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast have been named, the families and witnesses have spoken out about the horror that unfolded.
Kate Goodchild, 32, her brother Luke Dorsett, his partner Roozi Araghi and a 42-year-old woman who remains unknown were killed, The Courier Mail reports.
Kim Dorsett, whose two children, Kate Goodchild and her brother Luke Dorsett were both killed on the ride, says her granddaughter, who is believe to have been on the ride but was thrown to safety, was left screaming and calling out for her mother who was trapped.
“She just kept screaming ‘Where’s Mummy? Where’s Mummy?” witness Claire Wooley told News.com.au.
“We tried to comfort her, but she was so emotional it was hard.”
Another witness, Lia Capes added: “We saw [a] little girl and we believe it was her mum because it was just her and her little sister that was an infant.”
“I was speaking to one of the guys and he said it was the raft or the boat thing in front of him, the whole thing flipped and everyone was screaming.”
A male witness also told the publication, “there were kids on board screaming while their mum was trapped under”.
Ms Dorsett says her family are “just devastated, absolutely devastated.”
“I have three children and have lost two of them today — my whole family has been wiped out.
“I have two granddaughters — an eight-month-old and a 12-year-old — and it truly breaks my heart to know that my eight-month-old is never going to get to know her mum.”
Ms Goodchild’s husband had not gone on the ride to look after the couple’s eight-month-old daughter.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the group were just five seconds from safety as the ride was coming to an end before the craft flipped, drowning two of the adults, crushing the other two on a conveyor belt, but somehow miraculously throwing the two children to safety.
Police worked through the night, investigating the incident, looking for clues which will help them understand why the ride malfunctioned.
Dreamworld have closed until further notice, with the CEO Craig Davidson saying they are “deeply shocked and saddened” by the tragedy and “our hearts and thoughts go to the families involved and their loved ones”.
“The focus really is how we can comfort the families of these people and the Gold Coast,” Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate told Today, adding that they will be offering support to the families involved.
“We will rally behind them, we do that. We’re a country town when it comes to that sort of stuff and we’re going to do our best.”
This article originally appeared on Marie Claire.
