The Verruckt slide — the tallest water slide in the world according to Guinness World Records — at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas will be torn down following the death of a 10-year-old boy in August 2016.
Caleb Schwab was decapitated in August 2016 when the raft he was riding in went airborne and struck a metal support for netting on the slide. Two others in the raft were severely injured.
The indictment alleges that a team of experts inspected the ride after Caleb’s death and found “physical evidence that indicated that other rafts had gone airborne and collided with the overhead hoops and netting before the fatality.”
On Thursday a court approved the deconstruction of the Verruckt slide which will start shortly after Labor Day and take about three weeks.
“The court has granted approval to take down the ride. Deconstruction of the ride will proceed in the coming months.”
Caleb’s family have reached a settlement with the park’s owners and raft’s manufacturer. But criminal charges filed by the Kansas attorney general’s office are still pending.
Tyler Miles, former director of operations; and the park itself have been indicted on involuntary manslaughter, while the designers and contractor are facing charges of second-degree murder.