‘Everyone was screaming’: four killed as raft flips on river rapids ride at Australia’s Dreamworld

Two women and two men were killed at a theme park on Australia’s popular Gold Coast Tuesday, police said, with witnesses describing how “everyone was screaming” after a raft apparently flipped on a water ride.

Queensland police said the four victims died on the Thunder River Rapids ride at the Dreamworld park, as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull extended his prayers to their families over what he called a “very, very, sad, tragic event”.

“Four adult persons have lost their lives as a result of the incident,” Queensland Police spokesman Todd Reid said on the Gold Coast.

Queensland Ambulance official Gavin Fuller said the victims were two men and two women, aged between 32 and their early 40s. Their names and nationalities were not revealed.

The ride, which carries circular rafts that can accommodate six persons, “sustained some sort of malfunction, causing two people to be ejected from the ride, another two people were caught inside the ride”, Fuller said.

The Gold Coast Bulletin newspaper reported that water was drained from the attraction in an effort to save trapped victims, but to no avail.

Dreamworld, which opened in 1981 and has over 40 rides and attractions, saidthat it was “working as quickly as possible to establish the facts around the incident and is working closely with emergency authorities and police to do this”.