Thing is, the aunt was not actually there anyway - if she was then it would have said 'we saw her' but is says 'Sarah saw her' so she only has a 2nd hand account as well.  Hopefullly they have CCTV and all of it will be sorted out quickly.

A few months before we went to DLP some rocks fell on someone from BTM but should it be closed?  No.  It was an accident, accidents happen.  Unfortunately that is life.

Some of those people on the Chessington FB page need to get a grip!!

I don't understand why they cannot continue to operate the ride, but have all guests use the Fastrack/Express line? This is not raised up and is entered from ground level. Is the actual ride closure more of a courtesy thing?

Given that all these people are "praying for" some girl they have never met, I'm surprised they aren't saying the park brought it on themselves for having "evil" rides themed to the undead.

Praying is not just a term for a religious act, its just a way of showing support for something. Its nice that people are showing her support, i just wish the lynchmob mentality would end.

A BBC journalist (presenter maybe?) working for South East Today has made a post that her condition today remains "critical" and that the family have requested space to cope.

That will have come from the comment posted on Facebook a couple of hours back, from someone connected to the family:

To all those people asking how Jessica is today (Sunday) -- I've just spoken to her aunt. She says her neice is still critical. A terrible time for the family. She's asked me to thank everybody who's praying and expressing concern. We'll be sure to report any updates as soon as we are able to, but her family have asked for some space while they cope at the moment.

^ That was the BBC journalist's post.

So it was, fail on my part.

The BBC now carries the following statement in its article:

"Initial inspections are focused on a fence panel that lines the ride's queue, according to the theme park."

They state the height as 14 feet as well.

Ah a fence panel, not part of the floor!

Logic would suggest to me that it'd be one of the darker wooden panels on the concrete towers the bridges connect to.

Thought I'd have my say, as someone who was at the park on Thursday (although I did not see the incident itself).

All this talk of 'she fell 30feet from a rope bridge' is complete nonsense. The incident occurred at the back of the courtyard area, between the fastrack entrance and the ride exit- she fell around 14feet from the elevated walkway- not to detract from the sadness of this incident but the sensationalist nature of some people's/organisation's opinions/reportings really bugs me. (Furthermore, the actual bridge sections of the queue-line are [as somebody has already said] steel-framed and in no-way reliant on rope!)

By the time I got to the area there was a barricade of (presumably) ride and security staff, with the entire courtyard area closed off. Whilst they wouldn't say what happened, they were pretty calm and professional (as they should be).

I've thought pretty long and hard about this, and I disagree with the lynch-mob nature of many individuals' reactions on the park's Facebook page- whilst a highly emotive response is inevitable given that it is a very young child, people are, on the whole, jumping to conclusions...

I won't say which, but I have myself worked at a [now] Merlin UK park, and the queue lines are checked and walked-through each and every morning as part of the opening procedure (I assume this hasn't changed). This would involve cleaning, clearing any puddles, and a general going-over of the area for any hazards (eg. exposed nails)- thus I find it hard to believe that the ride would have opened on Thursday without any staff noticing this 'gap' that many people seem to be referring to.

Yes the area looks tired, and the fencing on the elevated walkways is old, but having walked through the queue on Thursday morning as a visitor (at around 11)- it is by no means falling apart! If, as a couple of Facebook commenters alleged, a broken panel was indeed reported the day before, that same panel would have been replaced (at the latest) in the morning prior to opening. I feel the need to defend the park here- there is NO WAY they would simply ignore such a hazard, given how thoroughly they check these things and how important H&S is to theme parks in general.

The term 'negligence' could be applied to the park's reluctance to maintain the appearance of some areas, but never to the way in which they approach health and safety.

From what I can gather (purely my opinion), I would say that at most, a plank in the fence was loose (but in-tact) at the time of opening on Thursday, and this may have been further damaged by guests at some point during the day- creating the hazard. What remains a mystery to me is whether anybody thought to report the gap immediately, and whether 'the park' were made aware of the hazard- and if so, how long they were aware before the incident occurred. I maintain, however, a firm belief that they would have responded immediately to any such danger if they were aware (probably by evacuating the queue line and/or closing the ride entirely).

Finally, I really begrudge the way newspapers/websites/TV news reportings are quoting directly from the CWoA Facebook page, padding out the story with comments from people claiming to be relatives (whilst not verified as being so) and comments from those making unjust statements!

Rant over

I'm not sure I've seen Facebook quotes used anywhere?

^ On Chessies Facebook page, hundreds of people are commenting about how the park should be closed and such like...

^ Yes, but I haven't seen a newspaper/website quote Facebook posts in their articles?

On a lighter note, the people who were being over the top have gone, and sensible and nice people have taken their place on Facebook...

Tom G wrote:

^ Yes, but I haven't seen a newspaper/website quote Facebook posts in their articles?

Sorry, should have been clearer- I was referring to an ITV reporter earlier this evening who was obviously running low on real information, so began waffling about how people "on the park's Facebook page have expressed concerns about a gap being reported days before" and how "Jessica's family have been thanking people on Facebook and have commented..."

It was just very unprofessional and seems bizarre to me that news stories can comprise totally unverified Facebook comments!

Is Pat Comer still stirring up trouble?

The message on the Chessington site is now...

"Tomb Blaster will not be operating until further notice."

:/

I fail to understand why this should mean Tomb Blaster is closed! You can enter through the Fastrack queue (which is still long enough) without using the bridges!