A woman remains in a critical condition in hospital after she was struck by a ride at Melbourne Royal Show on Sunday.
WorkSafe is investigating how the 26-year-old came to be hit, however, police have said she may have walked onto the Rebel Coaster's tracks to retrieve a mobile phone.
The ride was suspended after the incident, which happened about 5:45pm at the Melbourne Showgrounds in Ascot Vale.
The roller-coaster remained closed on Monday while investigators worked to piece together the events leading up to the injury, which has overshadowed the return of the Melbourne Royal Show, which was not held in 2020 or 2021.
Early reports yesterday suggested the woman may have fallen from the ride, but show organisers confirmed that was not the case.
Melbourne Royal Show CEO Brad Jenkins said there was not an issue with the Rebel Coaster ride itself.
"It was a tragic accident and by all reports she's gone to recover a phone, it's had nothing to do with the ride itself, a malfunction or anything of that nature," he said.
"I spoke to the operator late last night, they're obviously devastated as well as is the whole show community."
Victorian government minister Sonya Kilkenny said her thoughts were with the injured woman and the show community.
"I understand the matter has been referred to Victoria Police and Worksafe who will now investigate what happened," she said.
Ride operators under insurance stress
Amusement industry figure Damian De Jong, who runs ride supplier Action Events, said the incident would leave a lasting impact on the show community.
"It's terrible when things like this happen, it's just not good for the industry, it's not good for the person who's been injured, it's a terrible incident," he said.
Amusement ride operators have spoken of how insurance providers have pulled out of the sector, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr De Jong said insurance premiums in the amusement ride sector had risen by 400 per cent over the last three years, forcing many ride operators to leave the industry.
"We're all living on borrowed time in our industry because the insurance company highly regulates us as well and if [the Rebel Coaster operator] loses his insurance he can't operate, he's out of business."
"I've been in the industry 30 years and I've never seen it this bad."
