CHICAGO (AFP) – Authorities in the US state of Kansas were investigating the death of a 10-year-old boy on what is billed as the world’s tallest water slide.
Caleb Schwab, the son of a Kansas state legislator, was killed Sunday on the Verruckt, a towering water slide at Kansas City’s Schlitterbahn Water Park. Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio told a news conference that it was the first such incident at the park. The park gave no details on what happened to the boy, but said grief counselors were being made available to employees and guests.
A message posted on Kansas City Police Chief Terry Zeigler’s Twitter account said the boy’s cause of death was a “fatal neck injury,” and that no further details would be released pending an investigation. A GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for funeral expenses had generated more than $22,000 in donations on Monday. A park website description of the water slide says two to three people are typically strapped to a raft and then sent down a “jaw-dropping” 168-foot, 7-inch (51.4 meter) slide.
