A family is attempting to sue a Scottish theme park after two young girls were injured in a rollercoaster crash.
In August 2021, a ride at Landmark Forest Adventure Park in Carrbridge crashed, leaving two 12-year-old girls injured and traumatised.
The Runaway Timber Train lost its wheels due to a “mechanical fault” and toppled down the track before coming to a halt at the bottom where it dangled off the edge of the track with people trapped inside.
The ride was shut down four months after the terrifying incident and park bosses say it is no longer in operation.
Three years later, the parents of two 12-year-old girls who suffered neck injuries and psychological trauma, are speaking out about the incident and their intent on suing the park's bosses Visitor Centre Ltd.
Remaining anonymous, the father recalls the terrifying moment, and remembers how helpless he felt standing by the side unable to do anything.
He said: “The ride was at the highest point when I heard a bang, saw smoke and a set of wheels flying off one of the carriages.
“The rollercoaster plummeted to the bottom but juddered around as it did because it obviously wasn’t connected to the tracks properly.
“Me and the other parents could only look and shout as we saw our girls bashed around and thrown about while stuck inside the carriage.
“After about 30 seconds it all stopped with the carriage sort of hanging off the side.
“We could see our daughters were terrified and in pain but there was nothing we could do while they were trapped there.
“I genuinely thought my girl was going to die.”
After the ordeal the girls were checked over by paramedics who arrived on scene – they were then taken to Badenoch and Strathspey Community Hospital in Aviemore.
Medics conducted x-rays on the girls and confirmed they suffered significant whiplash injuries.
Both girls, who are from the Scottish Borders, made a physical recovery but still experience anxiety symptoms and flashbacks.
READ MORE:
- Scottish law firm targets 'ambitious' growth with new office
- Almost 100,000 against Loch Lomond Flamingo Land resort
Precise details of the incident remain unknown due to HSE not providing an update claims Digby Brown, who are representing the family in the lawsuit.
The solicitor also says HSE was asked in June 2022 for information and an update on the incident, but it claimed it could not as the probe was still ongoing.
The mother of the second injured girl added: “It was terrifying to feel so helpless when you know your child is in distress – I still feel that pain and anxiety today.
“Our sincere thanks go to the emergency workers and medical staff who cared for our children that day.
“The theme park told us nothing afterward and neither has the HSE. Here we are, three years later, and we are still being ignored – it’s all ludicrous and, frankly, does little to inspire trust or confidence.”
Digby Brown lawyers say the park denies liability and blames the maintenance company looking after the ride. They also say court papers allege the park received a safety alert seven years earlier in February 2014 from the manufacturer of the rollercoaster, after incidents on similar rides in England and India, and that the Scottish park did not act on the evidence.
Mairi Day, Partner at Digby Brown Solicitors in Edinburgh, said: “People expect to be thrilled at theme parks but they should never expect to actually be harmed.
“Parks and attractions are legally required to risk assess and maintain attractions and while safety regulations are strict, they are also very simple, so if all work is done as it should be then there’s no reason for these kinds of incidents to take place.
“But with Runaway Timber Train the available evidence shows there were gaps in the safety process which resulted in the injury of these two young girls and it is only right that those responsible are held to account.”
However, after approaching HSE, a spokesperson told the Herald that the criminal investigation had concluded and they would be happy to meet the family to discuss.
They said: “Our sympathies are with anyone involved in incidents of this nature.
“We carried out a thorough criminal investigation which has now concluded. The threshold for prosecution is extremely high, and was not met on this occasion.
“We took enforcement action against another company relating to the testing of the ride.”
Manager of the theme park, Ross Coulter said he was "surprised" to hear about the legal action and that the par "very much regret the incident that occurred".
He said: "We cooperated with HSE’s investigation into this incident which resulted in no enforcement action of any kind being taken against us. We also carried out our own investigation into the incident.
"Our investigation confirmed that the defect which contributed to the accident should have been detected by a specialist contractor during the annual Non Destructive Testing (NDT) inspection before the incident. We understand that HSE’s investigations reached the same conclusion.
"NDT testing is a legal requirement which must be carried out every 12 months in accordance with industry guidance. This is a specialist process which is carried out by an independent contractor, who must be approved by the industry body. The contractor we used came highly recommended by our industry body.
"Landmark acted swiftly following the safety alert issued in 2014. The park passed the industry safety alert to the specialist contractor who confirmed that the annual NDT testing which had already taken place that year was sufficient, and no additional action was required. NDT tests continued to be carried out annually.
"We provided an independent expert report to Digby Brown in December 2022 confirming the outcome of our investigation. We have heard nothing further from Digby Brown subsequently and are therefore surprised to be included in the court action which we will robustly defend.
"We note that Digby Brown have also raised court action against the specialist contractor.
"We were not placed under any restrictions regarding the operation of the rollercoaster following the accident. However, we made the decision not to operate the rollercoaster on our site following the accident and it is no longer on site."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here