Investigators have removed important tools from a well-known adventure park after a little kid plunged seven meters to the ground in a terrifying zipline mishap, prompting stunned visitors to defend the company’s safety procedures.
Around 3.25 pm on Sunday, the nine-year-old kid was at TreeTop Challenge in Woombye on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast when he fell off the zipline, injuring his back and abdomen.
Around 50 meters into the course, when emergency crews arrived on the scene, they discovered the child on the ground.
He was sent to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital where he is now making a full recovery.
After the catastrophe, previous park visitors raced to social media to express their outrage over it, citing their previous interactions with the “diligent” company and its stringent safety protocols.
The boy’s harness and a portion of the zipline have been confiscated, according to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, as investigators try to piece together what went wrong.
According to a spokeswoman for Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, “a complete investigation into the event has begun with inspectors, investigators, and experts from our Engineering Unit on-site today.”
A portion of the zip line and the harness, among other pertinent equipment, have been seized. Zipline operations have not yet resumed.
WHSQ will not be making any additional comments because an investigation has already started.
According to national legislation, inspectors have the authority to confiscate objects during investigations for a variety of reasons, such as to prevent the loss of evidence or the use of the object when the inspector thinks it to be proof of an offense.
In addition, items may be removed if the inspector determines that they need to be analyzed, tested, or examined, if they are believed to be defective, dangerous, or likely to cause an injury, or if seizing them is consistent with the reason for entrance.
Many stunned residents are still trying to process what happened as they say the company is extremely safety conscious.
A lady who went last Wednesday with her husband, son, 14, and daughter praised the workers for thoroughly inspecting her family’s equipment.
She explained to Daily Mail Australia that “they would check when the group returned from a task, then verified it all again before starting a challenge.”
My husband and the kids weren’t allowed to take on challenging tasks until they had aced the simpler ones.
I simply cannot fathom how he might have slid off.
Before establishing its junior course, for kids between the ages of three and nine, the park launched in 2019, giving an adult ziplining adventure for individuals eight years of age and older.
The two challenges each contain a number of courses with varying degrees of difficulty.
The mother stated that instructors are stationed throughout to help and that participants must watch a thorough safety explanation video before beginning the journey.
‘Once you start the [zipline] course, you can’t stop until you finish it,’ the saying goes.
You must take off your harness before using the restroom, and once you put it back on, an instructor must inspect it before you can use the other courses again, she explained.
“I can only assume that someone without experience toyed with the harness or that there was equipment failure,” the author said.
Others also struggled to understand how the situation could have happened.
One woman wrote, “I don’t see how this can happen.”
I recently visited there, and I noticed that you must be clipped in before your feet leave the ground and that you cannot unclip until you are back on it.
Another person commented, “TreeTop Challenge do an outstanding job tethering everyone and ensuring everyone is safe.”
“I sincerely hope the boy gets better soon… the park is amazing, it’s safe, and it’s fun.”
Late on Sunday night, police and occupational health and safety officials were on the site.
It is believed that the youngster and his family visited the park.
According to Lorenz Kleinberg, a spokeswoman for Queensland Ambulance Service, the nine-year-old was conscious and speaking throughout the incident.
To assess whether he sustained any spinal injuries, X-rays will be taken.
There are 12 ziplines available at Treetop Challenge, with heights ranging from three to 35 meters.
It is billed as the “highest, largest, and most thrilling high ropes adventure park” in the nation on its website.
“Each session lasts for two hours and includes a 30-minute induction of equipment installation and instruction, after which your child may perform as many courses as they choose!” Reads the webpage.
You don’t need any prior experience because our crew will make sure your child has a blast.