Police say 2 were lucky to survive accident at Aussie park

SYDNEY (AP) — Two young children are fortunate to be alive, police said Wednesday, after they were thrown clear and survived an accident that killed four people including their mothers on a river rapids ride at a popular theme park in Australia.

Two men and two women died in the accident on Tuesday at Dreamworld, a park on Queensland state's Gold Coast, Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd said.

The Thunder River Rapids ride whisks people in circular rafts along a fast-moving, artificial river, with a conveyor belt helping move the rafts through the water.

Dreamworld CEO Craig Davidson lay a wreath at a memorial to the victims at the park's entrance on Wednesday, as engineers began gathering forensic evidence of what had gone wrong.