THE Barry Island Pleasure Park Log Flume remains closed following an incident which saw a ‘boat’ turning over last week, throwing its three occupants into the water.

The thrill-ride, also known as The Pirate River, was operating between 8.30pm and 8.45pm on Wednesday August 12 when the incident occurred, leaving the ‘boat’s’ occupants - a mother, son, and her partner - wet, but uninjured.

Posting about the incident on Facebook, the mother related her account of the event and urged people to share what she had said.

The social media post went viral with more than 6.1k people reading and hundreds sharing.

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Pleasure Park owner, Henry Danter said CCTV had captured the incident and the occupants had flouted the instructions.

The Facebook post has since been removed, and when approached, the complainants did not wish to comment.

The ride will reopen once the safety officer gives the ride the all-clear, after a health and safety officer identified that some remedial action was necessary.

Speaking about the incident, Mr Danter, 76, said: “I was just going to the token box when I noticed some people sitting adjacent to the token box and there was a lady there with a boy who must have been about 10 to 12.

“And I said: ‘have you had a nice day, what have you been up to?’

“And she said: ‘we turned over on the boat, and I said: ‘oh,’.

“I went straight way to look at the Log Flume.

“The car was on its side and I said to Henri (grandson), ‘what happened there?’

“And he said: ‘I don’t know’

“I went back to the people and said: ‘I’ll go and get some dry towels for you.

“I said: ‘I’m very, very, sorry this has happened.

“’I don’t know why it’s happened, but we will look into it.’

“I did ask them if anybody was hurt and ‘did they want first aid?’

“They said ‘no’.

“I went and got them some dry towels and then they went.

“The next morning, we rang David Geary - he tests all these rides for amusement parks - and he said he’d send his son and his staff to have a look.

“We had a look ourselves.

“We couldn’t see anything, but lots of things could happen.

“I don’t know the reason why it could happen.

“Somebody could have thrown something into the tank, something could have come apart.

“We couldn’t find anything wrong with it and they were there all day testing it and they couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

“The health and safety came as well.

“We rang them first thing in the morning saying: ‘look there’s been an accident, nobody got hurt, a boat turned over.

“I went on it myself.

“It’s a thrill ride.

“Unless you respect it, it’s like a canoe on water - if you move around like you rock the boat you are going to take in water.

“They rocked the boat, their hands in the air, and all the instructions tell them to hold on tight - and they were told to hold on tight.

“They did have that information – they chose not to listen to it.

“It is something that people do love.

“It’s still a thrill ride.

“If you push the boat you are going to take in water.

“They didn’t get hurt, thank God, but they still were in shock.

“It was frightening for me as the owner.

“The boat went on its side because it had been rocked.

“It’s a gravity ride.

“If they had held on tight it wouldn’t have happened in my opinion.

“There’s plenty of signs.

“They chose to do it their way and leaned back.”

He added: “I’m very pleased nobody got hurt, they got wet.

“It’s the number one ride on the park, but it has got its issues because it’s a gravity ride and if you don’t respect the rules you are going to get hurt or wet or bumped or bruised.

“As long as you hold on tight, you’re not going to get hurt.”

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) spokesperson said: “HSE is aware of an incident that occurred on Wednesday evening involving the Log Flume ride at Barry Island Pleasure Park - it was brought to our attention by the ride owner and operator.

“The Log Flume has not been operational since the incident and has undergone inspection and examination by an independent fairground ride examiner.

“HSE will be taking enforcement action to ensure the ride remains closed until the necessary remedial actions identified by that examination have been taken.”