Family Of Child Killed In Waterslide Incident To Receive $20M

Image courtesy of Schlitterbahn Kansas City

Nine months after a 10-year-old boy died on the “world’s largest waterslide” at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, the youngster’s family has reached a nearly $20 million settlement with the company.

The Kansas City Star reports that the boy’s family will receive approximately $19.7 million from four different companies involved in the contraction and operation of The Verrückt.

These companies include KC Water Park and SVV1 – operations affiliated with Schlitterbahn – the general contractor on Verruckt’s construction, the manufacturer of rafts used on the attraction, and a consultant that worked on the waterslide.

The settlements were actually reached in January and April, but were not made public until the Star petitioned for the documents.

In a statement to the Star, a Schlitterbahn spokesperson says once again expressed condolences for the boy’s family, adding that it was thankful to reach a resolution.

The boy, the son of a Kansas lawmaker, died of a neck injury after riding the fast-moving, 17-story, Verrückt ride on Aug. 7.

As the park’s main attraction, The Verrückt — which translates to “insane” or “crazy” in German — opened in 2014 after facing months of issues during testing. Shortly before the slide was supposed to open, engineers delayed the debut to reconfigure portions of the ride, including the height and angles of some hills.

Riders have to be at least 54 inches tall and the weight of the four-person raft needs to be between 400 and 550 pounds.

In Nov. 2016, Schlitterbahn announced that it would dismantle the waterslide once an investigation into the boy’s death was completed. However, a rep for Schlitterbahn tells the Star that it has yet to receive court approval to tear down the slide.

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