Few details have been released about Caleb’s death on one of the top attractions of Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, KS.
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A Kansas water slide billed as the world’s tallest remained off-limits Monday as authorities pressed to figure out how a state lawmaker’s 10-year-old son died of a neck injury while riding it.
Riders go down the slide in multi-person rafts.
Officer Cameron Morgan, a police spokesman, said no police report about the incident was available.
The ride is more than 168 feet high, making it taller than the Statue of Liberty from torch to the top of its pedestal. The ride’s name means “insane” in German.
Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio says the boy died on one of the park’s main attractions, Verruckt, a 168-foot-tall water slide that has 264 stairs leading to the top.
Another effect that has come with the boy’s death is the question of whether potentially unsafe rides at water parks and amusement parks ought to be regulated by government inspectors.
Scott Schwab, a state representative, released a statement confirming his son was killed and asking for privacy from the media.
No specific details about what led to Caleb’s death have been provided.
An autopsy showed that Caleb, who was in a carriage with two women, died of an unspecified neck injury at the end of the ride in the water pool, Kansas City police said. Margaret Studyvin, an administrative assistant with the department, said it wasn’t clear when or if autopsy results would be made public.
Scott Schwab and his wife, Michele, have four sons, according to Clint Sprague, a pastor who is acting as a spokesman for the family.
A GoFundMe page has been created for the family to help with funeral expenses.
“We will see him another day”, Mr Schwab said in a statement published by several media outlets.
Prosapio said in 2014 that park officials would not hesitate to delay operation again for however long it takes to make sure the slide is safe.
Prosapio said during the news conference that the park’s rides are inspected daily and inspected by an “outside party” before the start of each season.
Without specifically mentioning water slides, Kansas statutes define an “amusement ride” as any mechanical or electrical conveyance “for the goal of giving its passengers amusement, pleasure, thrills or excitement”.
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