Police: Boy Died of Neck Injury on Kansas Waterslide

The 10-year-old boy who died Sunday at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas, suffered fatal neck injuries on the water slide certified as the world’s tallest, authorities said. Witnesses told reporters the child appeared to have been decapitated. Caleb Thomas Schwab was the son of Kansas State Rep. Scott Schwab. The ride hadn’t been inspected by the state since it debuted two years before, in 2014, the Kansas City Star reported. But officials said the responsibility for checking the feature rests with the owners, and Schlitterbahn representatives said they inspect it every day. Reports do not indicate how the boy knew the women who rode the slide with him, or how exactly he sustained the injuries that led to his death. When emergency responders arrived, he was already dead in the pool at the end of the ride, police said.