THE central England amusement park has been closed since Tuesday, when sixteen people were injured, four seriously, on The Smiler ride when the carriage they were in collided with another that had come to a halt on the track.
Nick Varney, chief executive of Merlin Entertainments, which owns the park, said it is committed to ensuring people can visit again "with confidence", and described the crash as a "terrible event" for everyone involved. "We are very aware of the impact it will have on those involved and we are doing all we can to provide our support to those injured and their families," he said. "We closed the park immediately whilst preliminary investigations took place and to give our staff time to come to terms with the accident and its aftermath. "In recent days our management team have been engaged in a thorough review of our operating and safety procedures before making this decision." However, the X-Sector of the Staffordshire theme park - which houses The Smiler - will remain closed until further notice to allow the Health and Safety Executive access to the ride for investigations. Merlin is thought to have racked up losses of about STG500,000 ($A999,400) a day since the incident and it has also faced accusations staff dithered for 10 minutes before making the first emergency call, despite screams of distress from bloodied passengers on board The Smiler.
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