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Kansas Water Slide Where 10-Year-Old Boy Died to Be Torn Down

A criminal investigation into the August accident remains open, but police said charges are unlikely. The Verrück was listed by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest water slide.
Image: Caleb Schwab
Caleb Schwab died in August on the Verr?ckt waterslide at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kansas.Schwab family via KSHB-TV

The Kansas water slide where 10-year-old Caleb Schwab died in August will be torn down and replaced, the amusement park company that ran it said Tuesday.

Caleb, the son of Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab, was killed Aug. 7 in an accident on the Verrückt ride at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kansas. According to a police report, Caleb died of a neck injury.

The Verrückt — a German word for "insane" or "crazy" — had been the park's marquee attraction. Its marketing materials included the slogan "R U Insane?" and it was listed by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest water slide.

"All of us at Schlitterbahn have been heartbroken over the tragedy that occurred on Verrückt," Pam Renteria, a spokeswoman for the park's parent company, Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts, said in a statement Tuesday.

Related: Like Many Others, Kansas Ride Where Caleb Schwab Died Is Minimally Regulated

"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," Renteria said. "In our opinion, it is the only proper course of action following this tragedy."

Renteria said a replacement attraction would be announced "at some point in the future."

Image: Verruckt water slide in Kansas City, Kansas
Customers ride the Verruckt waterslide at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kansas, in July 2014.Schlitterbahn Waterparks / EPA

Michael C. Rader, a lawyer representing Caleb's family, cautioned against removing the ride before all investigations are done.

"The slide cannot be torn down until all investigations and potential litigation has concluded," Rader said in a statement.

A criminal investigation remains open more than three months later, but police told NBC station KSHB of Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday that charges are unlikely.