KS - Caleb Schwab, 10, dies on 17-story Schlitterbahn waterpark slide, Aug 2016

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Wow, this is awful, I hope this place isn't still open or doesn't open again. Just terrible for this family and whoa that poor brother..So sad :(
 
oceanblueeyes said:
I believe he means they suspect no foul play was involved. The investigation is ongoing and their opinion is subject to change the more evidence they gather.

A spokesman for police in Kansas City, Kansas, says the death of a boy killed while riding a waterslide at a local water park is considered a criminal investigation because a death was involved. Officer Cameron Morgan said investigators didn't believe anything criminal happened, so it would be a "civil matter."

On Tuesday, he clarified that the investigation is a criminal case because a death was involved, as is standard procedure. He reaffirmed police don't believe any criminal wrongdoing occurred and are investigating to rule out that any crime was committed.

He is saying at this time he doesn't 'believe' any criminal wrongdoing occurred. That is just an opinion and not an affirmation.

http://www.ky3.com/content/news/Pol...tterbahn-in-Kansas-City-Kansas-389622462.html

I do believe they will change their opinion and find out that indeed it is a criminal matter especially if it is true about the straps just being there for show and were prone to snap. It will depend how far back others complained of the straps not holding them in and how long the owner had known about this problem and did nothing to rectify it to ensure the safety of everyone.

I think at least they will be charged with criminal negligence but then that doesn't seem to fit if they were fully aware of the problem and did absolutely nothing about it. That is more like a wonton disregard for human life to me. They weren't negligent, imo, meaning they just overlooked the problem but if they knew about it all along they were complicit knowing it was a serious safety hazard and did nothing to correct it.

I do believe they will also be civilly sued as well and not only by the family but by those who were there and are going to be traumatized for life by seeing what happened to this little boy. That is something so horrific that can scar people for life, mentally, who cant ever get the image out of their head.

IMO
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Thanks, OBE


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SweetT said:
Wow, this is awful, I hope this place isn't still open or doesn't open again. Just terrible for this family and whoa that poor brother..So sad :(
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The park was open today with numerous men, women and children visiting I saw the photos today in newspaper articles online but I bet visitor numbers are down. Thankfully this awful slide is closed though.
 
We used to go to Wet n Wild around here. They put the lightest in the front because if the heaviest was in the front, the raft would topple over forward easily. Usually I've only seen either rafts with 4'people or rafts with 2 people, so with a raft with 3 people, I agree that it's odd that the lightest wasn't in the center.
 
MzOpinion8d said:
KCK police have already announced this is a civil matter, no criminal investigation is being done and there will be no police report on the incident.

Editing to add they announced that less than 24 hours after the incident.

Schlitterbahn money apparently works fast in Wyandotte County.
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I completely agree.

When a ride malfunctioned at our state fair a couple of years ago, severely injuring almost a whole family, it was a criminal AND civil matter. The ride operator and the owner of the ride both were jailed.


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oceanblueeyes said:
It certainly could turn into a manslaughter charge and even a voluntary manslaughter if they find the owner of the ride had a total disregard for safety of human life by not making sure the straps holding the people in were secure. If they have known about this for sometime they certainly could be looking at a criminal charge.

IMO
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I agree. Here is a link to the court proceedings for the ride injuries that happened here. They charged them with assault with a deadly weapon.

http://abc11.com/news/nc-state-fair-ride-operator-pleads-guilty-in-2013-accident/760189/



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SweetT said:
Wow, this is awful, I hope this place isn't still open or doesn't open again. Just terrible for this family and whoa that poor brother..So sad :(
Click to expand...

They planned to open the park, minus this ride, today iirc.


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(O/T, I remember ago long time ago as a kid, an electric pole fell into the pool at a Water Park and people died.)

(Eta, thinking more about this, I also remember a lot of drowning accidents in the wave pool.)
 
SweetT said:
Wow, this is awful, I hope this place isn't still open or doesn't open again. Just terrible for this family and whoa that poor brother..So sad :(
Click to expand...

The park reopened today.
 
MsArk said:
BBM---
It makes complete sense that a more traditional type harness would not allow a rider to get free if the raft flipped over.... But I'm not sure if the greatest risk on this particular water ride is drowning. Seems like the biggest risk here is passengers flying out of their seats, as evidenced by early video. Does not appear the major modifications and the addition of the netting. which delayed the opening of the slide, were very effective.
Again, I say ego and profit clouded a lot of judgement in the design and ultimate approval of the world's tallest water slide.
JMO
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No, drowning was obviously not the greatest risk on this stupidly and dangerously designed ride, but it's why Velcro restraints are often used on water ride.
 
MzOpinion8d said:
KCK police have already announced this is a civil matter, no criminal investigation is being done and there will be no police report on the incident.

Editing to add they announced that less than 24 hours after the incident.

Schlitterbahn money apparently works fast in Wyandotte County.
Click to expand...

Well, that's just disturbing. I would think it's much too early for them to decide there's no evidence of criminally negligent actions.
 
RainCheck said:
Stewart Parnell must have had the same line of thinking when he covered up the salmonella peanut butter contamination issue in his company. He'll be serving 28 years in prison now though. http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/21/us/salmonella-peanut-exec-sentenced/
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29 dead, one year in prison.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ia-coal-mine-disaster/?utm_term=.f17602f3d9c6

The former chief executive of a company that owned a West Virginia mine where 29 miners were killed in a 2010 explosion was sentenced Wednesday to a year in federal prison.

Don Blankenship, who had been chief executive of Massey Energy, was found guilty by a jury in December on a charge of conspiracy to willfully violate mine health and safety standards. He was sentenced one day after the sixth anniversary of the accident, which drew national attention and prompted congressional scrutiny.
 
Unbelievable that such little concern is given to the public's lives! Even with the father of Caleb being an elected State Official, it appears this family was not given any special privileges or consideration.

It is not a loss to the company if this ride is out of order as there is one entrance fee for the park. It is like going to Disney World, and if several rides are shut down for maintenance the day you go, then that is just the way it is. There is no way the issues that have been brought to the public's attention have been remedied in three days!

As the designer of this ride, I would want to know exactly what caused this child's death before the ride was put into use again. As the park owners, with the liability of people's lives in my hands, I would insist on knowing and fixing the problems. Of course, both the designer and owners probably know exactly what happened without a word from anyone on sight! IMO.

Maybe, just maybe, this horrible accident will be the change for new, stricter laws to be passed in Kansas for amusement parks. Let's hope something good comes from this tragedy.
 
Kansas is dealing with a budget crisis, and the state is responsible for making sure the rides are safe. They have not checked the rides in several years. So the ride may have been unsafe. Ironically, his dad is a KS lawmaker.
I also read that the rafts need to have about 500 pounds of weight in them. He was only 10 so I am guessing he never should have been on the ride.
 
Reba said:
After looking at all the pictures and watching all the videos, how in the world can anyone assume that the netting being supported by those bars add any measure of safety?? Wouldn't common sense tell you that those bars would cause injury if the rider came out of the raft or if the raft came off the chute? I am completely baffled by how obviously dangerous this ride is . . .
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I so agree, it was a pretentious move, one meant to deceive. Regardless, if the rider comes out of the raft, what would happen, just what happened in this horrible tragedy. It was done for no other reason than to give the public a false sense of security. This is beyond horrific. I think if they don't tear that ride down, someone should tear it down for them. JMO
 
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