The victims of a malfunctioning water raft ride at the Dreamworld theme park on Queensland’s Gold Coast have been remembered as “wonderful people”.
Siblings Kate Goodchild, 32, and Luke Dorsett, 35, and his partner, Roozi Araghi, 38, died in the accident on the Thunder River Rapids ride on Tuesday afternoon, along with a New Zealand woman identified in media as Cindy Low, 42.
Two children, aged 10 and 12, were also on the raft and were being cared for at Gold Coast University hospital.
The mother of two of the victims has spoken to media about her loss.
Kim Dorsett, Dorsett and Goodchild’s mother, told Brisbane’s Courier-Mail on Tuesday she was “devastated, absolutely devastated”.
“I’m at a loss as to how to deal with this now – I woke up this morning with three children and tomorrow I am only going to have one left.”
Goodchild had two daughters, aged eight months and 12 years, pictures of whom – often with her two bull terriers – filled her Facebook profile.
Both she and brother Luke worked at the human services department in Canberra.
Alan Tudge, the human services minister, said in a statement they were both “valued employees” and extended his sympathy to their families, friends and colleagues at the department.
Dorsett and his partner Araghi made headlines in the Australian Capital Territory in 2014 when they successfully challenged a stamp duty bill on a home they bought.
Araghi worked at the Australian Bureau of Statistics. His profile picture on Facebook had been inundated with tributes from friends overnight on Tuesday.
Low, originally from Kawerau in the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand, lived in Sydney with her family.
Her family “respected privacy and respect at this time of loss and sadness” following the “catastrophic incident” in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.
“The family are traumatised, and kindly request that their privacy be respected as they try to come to terms with this tragic loss.
“No further statements will be made to the media at this time of intense grief.”
Sam Dastyari, the New South Wales senator, remembered his friend in posts on Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday morning. “I was lucky enough to have been raised with Roozi Araghi,” he said. “His father helped pave the way for my family to come to Australia.
“I’m devastated that such a caring, loving, sweet and sensitive friend has been lost. I’m angry that this could happen at a venue like Dreamworld.
“Thoughts go to Roozi’s family, the family of his partner Luke and sister Kate (who we also lost) as well as the other victims. Today is a very sad day.”
I was lucky enough to have been raised with Roozi Araghi. He was a caring, gentle and sweet soul. Australia worse for the loss. pic.twitter.com/GxrnKlEHio
— Sam Dastyari (@samdastyari) October 26, 2016
Kim Dorsett told the Courier-Mail her son and daughter were “wonderful people”. “That would be the best way to describe them. They were kind, loving souls that would honestly do anything for anyone.”
Patricia Karvelas, a presenter on Radio National Drive, said: “Roozi and Luke were the best and most loyal friends.”
New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that the fourth victim was a New Zealand woman who was believed to have been a long-term resident of Australia.
According to New Zealand media, Low was originally from Kawerau, a small town near Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty, but had lived in Sydney for at least a decade with her husband, also a New Zealander. She had two children, the eldest of whom – a 10-year-old boy – was believed to be with her on the ride.
