The Kansas park where a state lawmaker’s 10-year-old son died on what’s billed as the world’s largest waterslide says the park is tentatively planning to reopen on Wednesday.
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Kansas City Police said Caleb, the son of a Kansas state legislator, died from fatal neck injuries while witnesses have spoken of the horrific scenes which unfolded on Sunday.
The cause of Sunday’s accident is under investigation and the slide remains closed pending the results, as required by state law.
Authorities did not immediately identify the boy who died at Schlitterbahn Waterpark on Sunday, but Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab and his wife released a statement saying it was their son Caleb Thomas Schwab.
Police have said the tragedy was not being treated as a criminal incident but as a “civil matter”, and the investigation was ongoing.
Two adults were also in the same raft with the boy, they received minor facial injuries and were taken to the hospital, the police spokesman said. Instead, the park was watching its rides to test their safety. “We will see him another day”.
Riders are supposed to be at least 54 inches tall (1.37 meters).
Schlitterbahn Water Park heavily promotes Verrückt – German for “insane” – a slide with a 170-foot drop that holds the GuinnessWorld Records for water slide height. Its scheduled opening back in 2014 was delayed reportedly due to alarming complications including one that saw water rafts detach from the slide and fly off into the air.
The state Labor Department oversee these attractions in Kansas and did not return calls for comment.
Though it grants water parks the authority to regulate their own rides, the Kansas Amusement Ride Act requires inspectors be certified by a nonprofit group, the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials, which says it is “dedicated to the safety of the industry”.
“The Kansas City, Kansas Police Department would like to express our honest condolences to the Schwab Family on the tragic loss of their son Caleb Schwab”.
“We had many issues on the engineering side”, Jeff Henry, Verruckt creator and Schlitterbahn co-owner told USA Today.
Castaneda said that he heard booms coming from the area of the slide and then saw a body wash down the slide directly after the raft did.
“We are saddened to share that a young boy died on Verruckt this afternoon”, Prosapio said at a press conference.
Initially, the park was only going to allow riders who were 14 and older on Verruckt, but later removed the requirement.
“All rides are inspected every day actually”, Prosapio said.
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Some park guests say the slide’s harness wasn’t working properly earlier in the day.
