Thunder River Rapids Ride incident
| Thunder River Rapids Ride | |
|---|---|
The main rapids section of the Thunder River Rapids Ride.
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| Dreamworld | |
| Area | Town of Gold Rush |
| Coordinates | 27°51′44.44″S 153°18′54.85″E / 27.8623444°S 153.3152361°ECoordinates: 27°51′44.44″S 153°18′54.85″E / 27.8623444°S 153.3152361°E |
| Status | Removed |
| Opening date | 11 December 1986 |
| Closing date | 25 October 2016 |
| General statistics | |
| Type | River rafting ride |
| Model | Custom |
| Length | 410 m (1,350 ft) |
| Speed | 45 km/h (28 mph) |
| Duration | 4 |
| Height restriction | 120 cm (3 ft 11 in) |
| Website | Thunder River Rapids |
 Q4U available |
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The Thunder River Rapids Ride was a river rapid water ride located in the Town of Gold Rush section of Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Australia. It was recently Australia's only river rapids ride; however, a previous Rapids ride, The Snowy River Rampage operated at Wonderland Sydney.
After four ride patrons were killed on it in late October 2016 the ride, and Dreamworld, was closed. On 9 November Ardent Leisures' CEO announced that the ride would not reopen, and was to be demolished.
Gold Rush Country (now known as the Town of Gold Rush) opened on 11 December 1986. The area featured the Eureka Mountain Mine Ride and the Thunder River Rapids Ride. The Thunder River Rapids Ride was among the most popular rides at Dreamworld until its closure
Riders enter a long indoor queue with several switchbacks. The queue then bridges across part of the ride's water storage area before reaching the circular station. This station originally featured a rotating platform which allowed riders to mount and dismount the boats without the need for the boats to stop.
Riders would board one of several six-person circular rafts. The raft is dispatched and the riders travel back past the ride's queue and into a cave. Upon exiting the cave, riders experience the main rapids section of the ride. This section runs alongside a large water catchment which contained the water storage for the Thunder River Rapids Ride. The raft then goes under the Eureka Mountain Mine Ride's station and heads back towards its own station. Before departing the ride, guests are brought back up to the level of the station by a conveyor belt.
On 25 October 2016, a malfunction of the Thunder River Rapids Ride resulted in the deaths of four people. This is regarded as the worst accident at an Australian theme park since the 9 June 1979 ghost train ride fire at Luna Park Sydney. For reasons yet to be determined, one of the rafts, which was unoccupied, became stuck at the bottom of a conveyor belt that transports the rafts to the area where passengers disembark. Another raft carrying six people then collided with it and bounced backwards into the conveyor belt that transports the raft from the bottom of the ride to the boarding area and was dragged under backwards.
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Wikipedia