Valencia (EFE) possible tampering with anchors prior to police investigation.
The document, provided by the parents of one of the girls who died in the accident, which took place on January 4, 2022, indicates that, after reviewing and comparing the recordings and images taken at the time of the events by the witnesses and residents of the area, with the images captured just before the scientific police investigation, the appearance of ropes tied to a lamppost and close to ballasts, which were not present at the time of the incident, is proven.
very serious alterations
“This circumstance can be of a very serious nature, if it is proven that it is a manipulation of the scene studied,” adds the report to which EFE has had access.
It also warns that the flat straps used “are not suitable ropes for the security anchoring of the castle modules”, but are within the type of ropes that are used when folding the attraction after use.
“Clearly, if the attraction had had all the points properly anchored, the inflatable would not have risen and tipped to the side and the accident would not have occurred in any way,” the document adds.
He points out that the attraction rose laterally because it was not properly anchored, and even the absence of any anchorage on the right side of it, and the tying points on the left side to the structure of the trampolines “almost favored a sail effect that perhaps aggravated the occurrence of the incident”.
Lacked the required anchors
The attraction made up of three modules, he adds, had to have the 30 anchorage points properly moored because the manufacturer so indicates, and with the appropriate ropes and tensioners according to manufacturer specifications and regulations.
“It has been proven that it did not even have the minimum 18 points required based on the application of the UNE regulations” and the ropes used do not comply with the norm either, he indicates.
The report also warns that, after inspecting the square, “the absence of holes in its pavement is verified” and considers that fixing the moorings with chemical plugs to the ground would have been the optimal option to strengthen said attraction.
The lack of anchors to the ground or ballasts, in the opinion of the industrial technical engineer who forms the report, caused the inflatable to rise with the wind.
They couldn’t stop the uprising
“The turnbuckles and ropes observed in the police documentation and provided by witnesses, in addition to being insufficient and inadequate, could not prevent the attraction from being lifted, they only favored the lateral displacement of the assembly,” he adds.
“Despite all the previous negligence, related to the safety of the facility, the accident could have been avoided, following the rules of use of the attraction manual,” warns the report, since for situations of rain or wind, gusty or constant, with speeds greater than 30 km/h establishes that evacuation and disconnection will be carried out.
For all these reasons, it concludes: “the occurrence of this fatal accident is directly related to the negligent use of the installation and of the people who are responsible for such fact.” EFE