Water Slide That Decapitated Boy Violated Basic Design Standards, Indictment Says

In a rush to build the world’s tallest water slide, the operators of a Kansas park glossed over their own findings that the nearly 170-foot-tall ride had major design flaws, skirted basic engineering standards and sent riders airborne in a way that could injure or kill them, investigators said.

Yet the operators of Schlitterbahn Waterpark of Kansas City, Kan., opened the ride, Verrückt, in July 2014 — only 20 months from its conception to grand opening.

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