An attorney for the Kansas Department of Labor made the disclosure late Wednesday following an exchange of correspondence between the agency and Schlitterbahn – the water park at the center of intense scrutiny after a 10-year-old boy died while on a slide Sunday. Authorities have yet to explain how it happened.
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A person familiar with the investigation into the weekend waterpark accident in Kansas City, Kansas, says the boy killed was decapitated. The other two were treated for facial injuries. Caleb Thomas Schwab was the son of Rep. Scott Schwab and his wife, Michele. His funeral will be Friday.
At least two people who recently rode on Verruckt – German for “insane” – have said the nylon shoulder straps came loose during the ride. Since the accident, investigators have removed the netting above the 50-foot section from the hump to the finishing pool. Riders of at least 54 inches tall are strapped into three-person rafts using Velcro and must have a combined weight of 400 to 550 pounds.
Two media sneak preview days in 2014 were also canceled because of problems with a conveyor system that hauls the 100-pound rafts to the top of the slide.
Verruckt will remain closed, however, the waterpark is set to reopen on Wednesday at the earliest. Access to the Verruckt was blocked by a 7-foot-tall wooden fence.
The death of Caleb is also not the first tragedy at Schlitterbahn, in 2013, 20-year-old lifeguard, Nico Benavides was killed on the company’s South Padre Island park in Texas, when a mechanical door slammed on his head. She said she could not offer immediate perspective about how Wednesday’s turnout compared with typical attendance.
But she said that she was feeling guilty when a family is hurting so badly.
She said her family rode Verruckt twice in one day a couple of weeks ago.
Oberhauser said he reported the matter to park workers.
“I think they kind of realized that he was dead, so I don’t think they tried to revive him”, Sanford said.
They rode it again, only to see the restraint on her son’s friend also come loose by the time it was over.
It’s now known the boy was decapitated while he was riding the slide.
The Verrückt water slide was included in the inspection, according to the documents.
A copy of an insurance company inspector’s letter on June 7, provided by the Kansas Department of Labour to the Associated Press, said inspections had been completed.
The Unified Government of Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County said it does not inspect the operations of such rides and is responsible only for ensuring they’ve adhered to local building codes. The Guinness World Records has certified the ride as the tallest in the world.
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