Police have confirmed that Caleb Schwab, the son of a Kansas state politician, was killed after sustaining a fatal “neck injury” while on the 51 metre Verruckt slide at Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City. Following his death, Scott and Michele issued a statement saying, “Michele and I want to thank the Olathe, and Kansas City, KS communities and all our friends and family for their out pouring of support and compassion as it relates to the sudden loss of our son Caleb Thomas Schwab”.
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Prosapio said the park was closed Sunday and would also be closed Monday while the death is investigated.
“We are deeply and intensely saddened for the Schwab family and all who were impacted by the tragic accident on the Verruckt water slide at Schlitterbahn Kansas City on Sunday afternoon”, Prosapio said.
Kansas City TV station KCTV reported that the park told the station at the time that the ride was “not behaving properly”, after which netting was added around the slide.
The boy was found dead at the bottom of the ride in a pool, police said Monday. Two women in the boat with him – neither related to Caleb – suffered minor facial injuries.
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.
Groups of two to three riders must weigh between 181-249 kg combined, and be at least 137 cm tall before being strapped to a raft and sent down the “jaw-dropping” descent.
The Verrückt water slide is the tallest in the world, according to Guinness World Records.
This is the first time a visitor to Schlitterbahn has died inside the park. 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.
Without specifically mentioning water slides, Kansas statutes describe an “amusement ride” as “any mechanical or electrical device that carries or conveys passengers along, around or over a fixed or restricted route or course or within a defined area for the objective of giving its passengers amusement, pleasure, thrills or excitement”.
Such rides, according to the statute, commonly are known as Ferris wheels, carousels, parachute towers, bungee jumps and roller coasters. Kansas’ Labor Department didn’t return messages Monday. “We don’t have jurisdiction over that”, Davis said.
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The park was closed pending “a full investigation”, spokesperson Pam Renteria said in a statement posted on the park’s website.
