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Death at Schlitterbahn in KC, Verrückt to be torn down (page 2)

Olaf

Mega Poster
Eye witnesses claim that a small child was decapitated during his/her ride on Verruckt


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Dave

CF Legend
Seems like something tragic has taken place!

Kansas City, Kan., police report that someone died of accidental causes on Sunday at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kan.

Police Chief Terry Zeigler tweeted the information. A public information officer was to speak to media at the park.

Media reports indicated that the park had closed down and that people were leaving midafternoon.


Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/ar ... 54507.html
 

ECG

East Coast(er) General
Staff member
Administrator
A 12-year-old boy was killed Sunday in an apparent accident at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kan., police said.

Kansas City Police Chief Terry Zeigler confirmed that officers were conducting a death investigation at the park.

Cameron Morgan, a police spokesman, told The Associated Press that the victim was a 12-year-old boy. Both said no further details were immediately available.
Source
 

ECG

East Coast(er) General
Staff member
Administrator
I remember reading about all kinds of problems the park had getting Verruckt open. I think it took over a year with many of the test dummies plunging off the slide to the ground. They ended up having to put netting over the entire thing as a safety precaution and the wiring for that netting could have had something to do with it.
Just guessing here obviously, if what witnesses are saying is true.
 

Jarrett

Most Obnoxious Member 2016
The only way I could see someone getting decapitated would be if they hit the frame for the netting too hard, which even at top speed (nevermind would be exerting positive force on the rider making them even less likely to fly up) I doubt could sever human flesh. Not to mention decapitation seems like a very likely made up GP rumor, taking a legitimate accident and clogging it up with unnecessary details that didn't happen.

I could believe something tragic happened but the idea of a small kid getting decapitated on a water slide sounds too Happy Tree Friends to be true.
 

roomraider

Best Topic Starter
Theres an image below showing some of the aftermath. I've not embedded the image just for those who don't want to see quite a lot of blood pooled at the bottom.

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/fi ... 210957.jpg

Perhaps confirming the netting rumours it looks like they are removing the netting from the 2nd drop
CpTBKeUUsAEm7OJ.jpg


Reports are it was the son of a state representative who died as well.
 

tomahawk

Strata Poster
Just horrifying. He was from town I lived in for a few years, and my brother in law teaches in that city.

How...

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S

SimonSays99

Guest
What I have seen from TV news is very horrible. Condolences to family and friends.
 

CoastinBear

Roller Poster
Jarrett said:
The only way I could see someone getting decapitated would be if they hit the frame for the netting too hard, which even at top speed (nevermind would be exerting positive force on the rider making them even less likely to fly up) I doubt could sever human flesh. Not to mention decapitation seems like a very likely made up GP rumor, taking a legitimate accident and clogging it up with unnecessary details that didn't happen.

I could believe something tragic happened but the idea of a small kid getting decapitated on a water slide sounds too Happy Tree Friends to be true.

This sounds like the accident that happened a couple of decades ago on one of those side-friction water chute rides - like Vikingar (it didn't happen at Blackpool, I must add).

The lift, 180-degree turn at the top and the descent had metal arches going over the track which were covered in lights. Looked great - but one of the arches on the slope down to the water came adrift and fell over as a boat was accelerating down the slope, resulting in decapitation.

I'd assume that the boats had some kind of lap restraint?

From this report on the ride when it first opened, it seems that there is a fair amount of airtime on that hill.

Edit: Yep - the boats have seat-belt-style over-the-shoulder restraints. That means the boat would have been pulling the poor kid down against the force of the loop over the track. Awful.
 

YUNG_CHOPPA

Mega Poster
Wow this is such a horrible accident I hope the general public doesn't give the theme park industry a bad reputation with all these accidents happening recently. I've heard some GP's talking about theme park rides becoming too dangerous...I hope people realize this is just one accident and that you're more likely to get killed driving to the park than getting killed at the park.

They said the boy died from a neck injury I still wonder what went quite wrong. I know I heard some people talking about the restraints being kinda loose when it first opened and I know the ride had some problems during testing so much to where the opening was delayed. Could Verruckt be the water ride version of The Smiler?
 

spicy

Giga Poster
This is terrible.

Is it just me but when looking at the slide this accident doesn't seem that out of the ordinary and was an accident waiting to happen? All it took was just one boat to pick up too much speed and take off on that hill straight into the netting.
 

ECG

East Coast(er) General
Staff member
Administrator
There's a minimum weight for the boat to be released to keep it from getting airborne over the hill.
The most recent reports indicate that the boy came out of the boat while the other two riders remained strapped in, indicating a seat belt problem. Some even say that it could have been an operator error in that he wasn't strapped in properly.
This is all from the media and the park has made no comments as the investigation is still ongoing.
 

YUNG_CHOPPA

Mega Poster
@ECG I heard that some of the people who rode it before the boy died that day said that the seatbelt seemed like the velcro wasn't strapping on enough. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a problem with the seatbelt.
 

tomahawk

Strata Poster
The police confirmed he was decapitated tonight. It sounds like he got launched out, got caught in the netting and it may have been that wire framing that did it.

They aren't going to give the details, but it's horrifying to think about. Clearly something went terribly wrong is the only thing known. It could have been the weight. The water chute to slow it up the hill not working, height, so many variables.

One of my old college roommates is a higher up there in management. Needless to say he's been silent.

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