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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Funeral set for boy killed on Kansas waterslide

This 2013 file photo shows Schlitterbahn’s  Verruckt speed slide/water coaster in Kansas City, Kan. (Jill Toyoshiba / Associated Press)
Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A funeral is set for a state lawmaker’s 10-year-old son who was killed while riding a Kansas waterslide billed as the world’s tallest.

Police say Caleb Thomas Schwab died Sunday of an unspecified neck injury while riding the 168-foot-tall Verruckt at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas.

Neither investigators nor park officials have released specifics about how the boy sustained his fatal injuries. Caleb was the son of Republican state Rep. Scott Schwab.

A family spokesman, the Rev. Clint Sprague, says visitation will be held Thursday evening at LifeMission Church in Olathe. A memorial service is scheduled for Friday afternoon.

The park is tentatively scheduled to reopen Wednesday, though the waterslide remains closed.

A spokesman for police said the incident is considered a criminal investigation because a death was involved.

Caleb was one of three passengers riding in a raft on the Verruckt waterslide at Schlitterbahn Waterpark when the accident occurred. Emergency responders found the boy dead in a pool at the end of the ride. The other passengers sustained minor facial injuries.