World's tallest water slide to be permanently closed following fatal accident


The Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kansas, announced Tuesday it will tear down the Verrückt water slide, months after a 10-year-old was decapitated on the ride.
Caleb Schwab was killed over the summer while on the 168-foot-tall ride, named after the German word for "crazy." In a statement, the park said it was permanently closing the ride because it "is the only proper course of action following this tragedy." The park does have to wait for an investigation into the accident to finish before it can ask a court to grant permission for the ride to be dismantled. Once that happens, the park said it will share what it plans to build in Verrückt's place. Catherine Garcia
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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