A New Zealand man has told Newshub how his group let the victims of the Dreamworld accident go ahead of them on the ride that killed four of them.
Two women, aged 42 and 32, and two men, aged 38 and 35, died after an accident on the Thunder River Rapids ride at the Australian theme park on Tuesday afternoon.
The 25-year-old Christchurch man and his partner were about to get in the raft involved in the accident on the Gold Coast, but let another group in front first.
He said they were waiting for his partner's mother to catch up with them for one last ride before their bus came.
The 25-year-old said he didn't want to be named as he was still too shaken up.
Kind words and floral tributes for Dreamworld victims (Sophie Lowery/Newshub.)
"We saw things we wished we hadn't," he said.
His group was already in their raft when the accident happened, but they managed to climb out while it was on the conveyor belt.
He said no one told them what was going on while they were stuck there, so they made the decision to get themselves out.
Panicked onlookers screamed and some jumped over the barriers to try and help those on the ride.
The man said he had been left traumatised by the incident and was "counting his lucky stars".
The man's mother told Newshub the couple would never go to another theme park.
Newshub.
