The world’s tallest waterslide will be torn down after a 10-year-old boy was killed while riding it in August, officials said Tuesday.
The 17-story slide known as Verrückt, the German word for “crazy,” has been closed since the incident and will not reopen to the public, a spokesperson for the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas, said in a statement.
“Once the investigation is concluded and we are given permission by the court, Verrückt will be decommissioned — closed permanently and the slide removed from the tower,” the statement said. “In our opinion, it is the only proper course of action following this tragedy.”
In August, 10-year-old Caleb Schwab was killed while riding the 168-foot-tall slide. Authorities have only described his death as being the result of a neck injury, but a source familiar with the investigation told the Associated Press he had been decapitated.