Victoria coroner finds 6-year-old’s death on ride was preventable
A Victorian coroner has found the death of a six-year-old boy who fell from an amusement ride was a preventable tragedy. In damning findings handed down today, the coroner found the ride at the easter carnival on the Mornington peninsula was unsafe and the man operating it wasn't properly trained.
Transcript
00:00 Tammy White doesn't want her son's death to be in vain.
00:05 And he was really special. He was the baby of our family. He was so loved.
00:12 Eugene Mahuareki was killed in 2017. His favourite ride was the Cha-Cha.
00:18 Moments after it started, the six-year-old was crushed by another child.
00:22 Eugene was effectively squeezed underneath a safety barrier and flung from the ride, suffering fatal head injuries.
00:29 It's not right that Eugene should not be here today.
00:32 And really, the system that we have has really let him down and let the family down.
00:38 The Coronial Inquest has been examining the tragedy which occurred at the Easter Carnival at Rye on the Mornington Peninsula.
00:44 The Cha-Cha was built in 1961.
00:47 Coroner Sarah Gibbett found its restraints failed to comply with safety standards
00:52 and the person operating the ride was a German backpacker who wasn't suitably trained and didn't follow the rules.
00:59 She said the ultimate responsibility lay with this man, Michael Whittingslow, who owned the ride.
01:04 There should be consequences for people who don't do their job properly.
01:08 For now, that seems unlikely to occur in a criminal court.
01:12 WorkSafe charged Mr Whittingslow but dropped the case against him in 2020.
01:16 And Lucas Collier, the man who was operating the ride, returned to Germany and refused to give evidence at the inquest.
01:23 Today, the coroner recommended stricter safety protocols for older amusement rides
01:28 as well as better training and management of the people operating them.
01:32 I hope they are all taken on so this doesn't happen to another family.
01:36 I think it's about time that the amusement industry listened to what the coroner has to say and put safety ahead of profits.
01:45 [BLANK_AUDIO]