Busch Gardens Shuts Down Water Ride as Theme Park in Australia Reopens

Dreamworld will reopen Friday just days after four people were killed on a ride.

ByABC News
October 26, 2016, 9:05 AM

— -- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Florida has shuttered one of its popular water rides as an amusement park in Australia plans to reopen following a tragic incident there that left four people dead.

Dreamworld will reopen Friday and all proceeds from the day will go to the Australian Red Cross in memory of those who lost their lives, the park said.

"We hope this will be considered the start of the healing process for all concerned," Dreamworld Australia said in a statement Wednesday.

Two women, aged 42 and 32, and two men, aged 38 and 35, were killed Tuesday after a raft on the Thunder River Rapids ride at the amusement park on Queensland’s Gold Coast turned over on its conveyor belt, police said. The investigation into the incident is ongoing. Police have not yet released the victims' identities.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by today’s accident,” the park said in a statement following the incident. “Our hearts and thoughts go to the families involved and their loved ones.”

After the tragedy, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay decided on Tuesday to shut down its Congo River Rapids ride which park officials say is similar to the ride in Australia. Park officials said the Congo River Rapids ride was closed “out of an abundance of caution” while they work to understand what happened in Australia, according to The Associated Press.

PHOTO: An aerial view shows Queensland Emergency service personnel at the scene of an incident at the amusement theme park Dreamworld, in Coomera, on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, Oct. 25, 2016.
An aerial view shows Queensland Emergency service personnel at the scene of an incident at the amusement theme park Dreamworld, in Coomera, on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, Oct. 25, 2016.

Two children -- a 12-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy -- who shared the raft with the victims were thrown from the raft, which flipped backwards after hitting a raft in front of it. The children managed to get themselves out uninjured. Closed-circuit television footage showed the ride was near the end when the two rafts collided, police said.

"In terms of how they escaped, maybe through the providence of God or somebody, but it seems from what I've seen almost a miracle that anybody came out of that," Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd said Tuesday. "If we're going to be thankful for anything, I'm thankful for that."

In its statement Wednesday, Dreamworld Australia noted that its Thunder River Rapids ride “had successfully completed its annual mechanical and structural safety engineering inspection on Sept. 29, 2016.”

ABC News’ Michael Edison Hayden, Julia Jacobo, Dominick Proto contributed to this report. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.