Child killed in accident on world's tallest waterslide
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A boy has died after an accident on the world’s tallest waterslide at Schlitterbahn waterpark in Kansas on 7 August.
The boy, identified as Caleb Thomas Schwab – son of state representative Scott Schwab and his wife Michele – died while riding the record-breaking Verrückt, which requires two-to-three riders to be strapped in a raft with a total weight between 400 and 500 pounds.
The waterpark has released no further details surrounding the circumstances of the boy’s death, which is being investigated by Kansas state police. The waterpark has been closed for the investigation and the ride has been closed indefinitely.
Schlitterbahn first opened the ride in July 2014, which is not only the world’s tallest waterslide, but also the fastest.
Verrückt – the German word for insane – features a three-second freefall reaching speeds of around 50mph (80kph) before being launched upwards into a ‘weightless’ situation and then plummeting down once again to finish up in a splash pool. The 168ft (51.2m) slide’s opening was delayed several times, with technical glitches costing around US$1m (€734,000 £584,000) to fix.
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