This is so sad…
So remember when we reported on the 6-year-old girl who died after falling out of her seat at the Haunted Mine Drop ride at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Colorado during a family vacay over Labor Day weekend? As you may recall, the theme park did not provide a lot of information about how the tragic accident happened at the time. Well now, according to People, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s Division of Oil and Public Safety released a report about the incident on Friday and revealed that the little girl was not properly strapped in on the ride. (As an FYI, you have to be at least 46 inches to go on, and presumably, the child was since she was allowed on.)
According to the report, Wongel Estifanos sat on top of two fastened seat belts instead of wearing them across her body. The kiddo reportedly placed the loose end of the buckle across her lap, making it appear that she had it on before the attraction plummeted down the mine shaft. An alarm actually warned attendants that the belts in Estifanos’ seat weren’t undone from the previous ride and prevented the operators from launching it. However, an employee, who was hired two months before the incident, simply overrode the system and didn’t double-check. The report stated:
“Operators took several incorrect actions and reset the ride seatbelt monitors which allowed them to dispatch the ride.”
Then, Estifanos was ejected from her seat during the 110-foot drop and fell to the bottom of the ride. Although employees attempted first aid until paramedics from the Glenwood Springs Fire Department arrived, it was sadly too late as she succumbed to her injuries.
Wow, this could have been avoided if they had just looked again and made sure she was strapped in. The report notes that the tragedy “was the result of multiple operator errors” and “violations of the Colorado Amusement Rides and Devices Regulations, and enforcement will be pursued.” It also added that the Oil and Public Safety division “may assess fines and penalties of up to $1,000 per violation for each day of violation that results in serious bodily injury.”
The Estifanos family’s lawyer Dan Caplis also told 9News that they plan on filing a lawsuit based on the findings from the investigation:
“So what will happen now is we’ll take this report and then we’ll file a lawsuit, and we’ll use the subpoena power we get through a lawsuit to make sure that the full truth is on the table for everybody in the community to see, for ultimately a jury to see.”
Let this be a lesson and reminder to always triple-check that you’re secured in the ride’s seat. Our hearts go out to the family.
[Image via GoFundMe, Coster Studios/YouTube]
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