Boy was decapitated on ride designed by 'trial and error' in tragic theme park disaster
A 10-year-old boy was decapitated while going down the 'world's tallest water slide' in Kansas City.
On 7 August 2016, Caleb Thomas Schwab and his family visited the local water park, Schlitterbahn, during an event for elected officials in the US state of Kansas.
Caleb ended up going onboard the Verrückt slide (meaning 'crazy' or 'insane'), along with two women, who were unrelated to him.
Having operated for two years at that point, the Verrückt towered at just under 170 feet and could achieve a speed of 70 miles per hour.
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While on the slide, riders would sit in a three-man raft, one in front of the other, while strapped in for safety. Just 10 years old at the time, Caleb left his brothers at the bottom of the slide and started his way up the slide.
However, an uneven weight distribution caused their raft to go airborne and launch the riders into the net surrounding the slide.
Caleb's 12-year-old brother, Nathan, could be heard screaming that his brother had 'flown from Verrückt', before he was later found dead at the bottom of the pool.
The boy would, unfortunately, be struck in the neck with one of the metal hoops holding the netting together, resembling horrific injuries which amounted to decapitation.
The two women survived the impact, though they suffered major facial injuries, as one broke her jaw and the other had a facial fracture.
A criminal investigation into the incident soon commenced, and the ride was found to have serious design flaws.
In March 2018, the park's co-owner, Jeff Henry, and lead designer John Schooley were accused by a grand jury indictment of lacking 'technical expertise to properly design a complex amusement ride such as Verrückt' nor had 'any kind of technical or engineering credential relevant to amusement ride design or safety'.
They were also said to have come up with the idea for Verrückt 'on the spur of the moment', court documents said (via The Independent).
They employed a 'trial and error' method during slide construction to solve problems, as tests revealed that rafts would often go airborne, according to the indictment.
According to ABC, investigators discovered that 13 people also allegedly suffered injuries while using the slide.
Despite being arrested for second-degree murder among other charges, they were both cleared following the use of an Xtreme Waterparks episode in court as fact, instead being dismissed as 'inadmissible evidence'.
The Schwabs ultimately received £15.8m ($20m) from several parties, including Schlitterbahn. Following the conclusion of criminal cases, Verrückt was dismantled within a couple of months.
The park itself was later demolished the following year.
Topics: US News, Theme Park
Joshua Nair