Six euro fine for Fairytale Forest Valkenburg, guilty of gondola accident

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L1mburg

NOS News•today, 6:32 PM

The Valkenburg amusement park Sprookjesbos must pay a fine of six euros to a victim of a gondola accident two years ago. The Public Prosecution Service has determined this. After almost two years, the investigation into the accident has been completed.

On May 27, 2022, a cart from an attraction in the park fell several meters. There were two adults and two children inside. Both adults and one of the children were injured. The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) started an investigation.

A year ago, the NVWA transferred the investigation to the Public Prosecution Service. In common and minor criminal cases, the Public Prosecution Service can impose a sentence itself without the intervention of the judge. This is done by imposing a criminal order. Such a decision may consist of community service, a fine or compensation.

The public prosecutor found the amusement park guilty of two violations in this case: grievous bodily harm due to negligence and failure to comply with the duty of care with regard to maintenance of the attraction.

The fine for the violations is low, because the Fairytale Forest was already bankrupt when one of the victims held the amusement park liable. Discussions with the curator showed that the financial situation of the Fairytale Forest was very bad: there were no more financial options for the victim to recover from the Fairytale Forest, writes L1 News.

The Public Prosecution Service states that the fine was imposed in the interests of the victim: the park has now been blamed and the victim can now contact the insurer. Because the case has now been settled, the victim will not have to go to court. It is not known why the victim only held the park liable for the accident after about a year and a half.

Fairytale Forest was set up in 1950 by Bruno Bruck. In December last year, the park was declared bankrupt because it was no longer making a profit due to low visitor numbers. However, it will open again soon: Rotterdam entrepreneur Raymond Vaessens bought the entire park. He wants to make it more sustainable and is looking at collaborating with the nearby toboggan run in Valkenburg.

The attraction where things went wrong two years ago will be removed. “That accident was terrible,” a spokesperson for Fairytale Forest said last month. “It all turned out well in the end, but as long as the attraction is there, it will remain a topic of conversation.” There may be parking spaces for visitors at the spot left by the attraction.