Water slide complaints surface after boy dies on ride

At least two people who rode in the last year on the “Verruckt” water slide where a 10-year-old boy was killed say Velcro shoulder straps came loose during the raft ride featuring a 17-story drop. It’s unclear whether the straps played any role in Sunday’s death of Caleb Schwab. (Associated Press File Photos)

This June 2016 photo provided by David Strickland shows Caleb Thomas Schwab, the son of Scott Schwab, a Kansas state lawmaker from Olathe. Caleb died Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016, while riding the Verruckt, a water slide that’s billed as the world’s largest, at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kan. (David Strickland via AP)

FILE — In this July 9, 2014 file photo, riders are propelled by jets of water as they go over a hump while riding a water slide called “Verruckt” at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kan. A 12-year-old boy died Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016, on the Kansas water slide that is billed as the world’s largest, according to officials. Kansas City, Kansas, police spokesman Officer Cameron Morgan said the boy died at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark, which is located about 15 miles west of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said the child died on one of the park’s main attractions, Verruckt, a 168-foot-tall water slide that has 264 stairs leading to the top. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

FILE — In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 file photo, Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab speaks at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. The young son of a Kansas state lawmaker died on a water slide that is billed as the world’s largest, according to officials and the boy’s family. Authorities did not immediately identify the child who died Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016 at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas, but state Rep. Scott Schwab and his wife released a statement saying it was their son Caleb Thomas Schwab. (AP Photo/Nicholas Clayton, file)

Complaints have surfaced about the safety straps on Schlitterbahn’s Verruckt speed slide/water coaster in Kansas City, Kan. after a 10-year-old boy died Sunday. (AP File Photo)

This June 2016 photo provided by David Strickland shows Caleb Thomas Schwab posing with his father Scott Schwab, a Kansas state lawmaker from Olathe. Caleb died Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016, while riding the Verruckt, a water slide that’s billed as the world’s largest, at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kan. (David Strickland/David Strickland via AP)

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By Maria Sudekum (Associated Press)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At least two people who rode in the last year on the same Kansas water slide where a 10-year-old boy was killed say nylon shoulder straps came loose during the raft ride featuring a 17-story drop.

It’s unclear whether the straps on “Verruckt” — German for “insane” — played any role in Sunday’s death of Caleb Schwab, a Kansas lawmaker’s son. Police and Schlitterbahn Waterpark have yet to explain how Caleb sustained a fatal neck injury on the 168-foot-tall ride, which the park said Tuesday would be closed for the remainder of the season.

On the 2-year-old water slide certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s tallest, riders sit in multi-person rafts that begin with the steep drop, followed by a surge up a second hill before a 50-foot descent to a finishing pool. Along the way, riders clutch ropes along the inside of the raft.

Riders are harnessed in with two nylon seatbelt-like straps — one that crosses the rider’s lap, the other stretching diagonally like a car shoulder seat belt. Each strap is held in place by long Velcro-style straps, not by buckles.

Ken Martin, a Richmond, Virginia-based amusement park safety consultant, questioned whether the straps were appropriate for what he called “nothing more than a roller coaster with water.”

In early tests, rafts carrying sandbags flew off the slide, prompting engineers to tear down half of the ride and reconfigure some angles. A promotional video about building the slide includes footage of two men riding a raft down a half-size test model and going slightly airborne as it crests the top of the first big hill.

“I think they designed this ride, and they figured since stuff was flying out, we better do something to keep people from flying out,” he said. “I think we have a serious issue with the restraint system. Period.”

Although he has not seen or ridden Verruckt, Martin said a more solid restraint system that fits over the body — similar to those used in roller coasters — may have been better.

Jon Rust, a professor of textile engineering at North Carolina State University, said the material used on the straps, commonly called hook and loop, isn’t designed to keep a person in the seat. It also can get old and degrade with use.

“It’s got to be used in a safe manner, and that doesn’t include stopping someone’s fall or preventing someone’s ejection,” Rust said.

Paul Oberhauser told local television station KCTV his shoulder restraint “busted loose” on his Verruckt raft July 26. The Nebraska man said he “just held on,” and a video shot by his wife shows the strap loose at the ride’s end. Oberhauser said he reported the matter to park workers.

Kenneth Conrad told WDAF-TV that during his trip down the water slide last year with a friend, the friend’s shoulder strap came “completely off.” Conrad’s wife snapped a photo at the end of the ride showing the strap missing, and Conrad didn’t file a complaint with the park.

The park’s spokeswoman didn’t return messages Tuesday from The Associated Press seeking comment on the claims. In a statement, she said “a limited portion” of the park will reopen today.