Watch CBS News

Parents Wary Of Ride Risks After Boy's Death At Kansas City Water Park

KANSAS CITY, KS (CBSNewYork) -- There were many questions and no answers Monday, in the tragic death of a 10-year-old at a Kansas City water park.

Caleb Schwab -- son of Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab -- was riding down the Verruckt water slide Sunday, when something went terribly wrong.

Witnesses said the boy's body was found lying on the ground.

No one has said how he died. The slide, which drops 169-ft, has been closed indefinitely.

"We honestly don't know what happened. That's why an investigation is underway. All our slides are inspected everyday actually, and our rides are inspected by an outside party at the start, before the season starts," a park representative said.

The Verruckt slide sends riders in a three person raft plummeting down at speeds of up to 70 mph.

Before opening in 2014, the slide faced multiple delays. Adjustments reportedly had to me made to the slide's second hill, and tests with sandbags showed rafts literally flying off the slide.

At a park in Suffolk County, some visitors told CBS2's Emily Smith the accident had them concerned.

"I get scared going on, but I feel fine once I'm going down," one rider said.

Splish Splash in Calverton has 35 slides, some high in the sky with 80 foot drops.

Schwab's death has some parents feeling wary.

"What if. It could happen to anyone, but I try not to live my life that way," Sarah Bertucci said.

"We were nervous coming today. That's why I'm here, didn't want to let the kids come by themselves. It's hard to say no," Barbara Lapadula said.

Splish Splash doesn't have anything like the park in Kansas City, but it does have Cliff Diver which drops eight stories, in three seconds. The ride, like all rides at Splish Splash, comes with a height and weight requirement.

And and high limits may have been a factor in Kansas City -- Schwab was 10 -- the ride requires participants to be 14.

Splish Splash general manager Mike Bengston said he can't speak for other parks, but here, managers ride every slide, every morning. Lifeguards are audited by an unannounced risk management team to be sure they are watching height and weight requirements. The New York State Department of Labor inspects the park at the beginning of the season.

"Every year the Department of Labor walks all slides, the fiber glass towers, and makes sure everything is ok," Bengston said.

He said the fatality on Verruckt is something you almost never hear about at a water park. He also said that custom, one of a kind rides like Verruckt have been deemed risky.

"A lot of our slides are also in other places across the country, so those same policies and procedures are all over the world," he said.

The park in Kansas City hasn't released many details, but parents have a lot of questions.

"I don't know what went wrong, and my son was saying he wanted to go on cliff diver together, which we haven't done yet," one mother said.

Many parents said when it's August and humid it's tough to tell your kids 'no' knowing it's all a risk.

 

 

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.