GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is closed Monday and Tuesday after a child was killed aboard a ride Sunday evening.
The park reported that the incident involved the Haunted Mine Drop ride.
The Garfield County Coroner’s Office said a 6-year-old girl from Colorado Springs was fatally injured on the ride. She was on a vacation with her family.
Glenwood Caverns employees began first aid until paramedics arrived at the scene and determined the child had died, according to the coroner's office.
Authorities are investigating the circumstances around the child's death.
The park said due to the ongoing investigation, it does not have any other information to share.
The park will stay closed Monday and Tuesday.
The Haunted Mine Drop is one of the park's newest rides, having opened in July 2017. According to the park, it's the "first drop ride in the world to go underground, plunging riders 110 feet inside the dark depths of Iron Mountain in what feels like a free-fall."
The ride features a row of seats open in the large hole and surrounded by rock. Riders wear a seatbelt, but their shoulders are not restrained.
Taylor Bybee, a YouTuber who travels the country and the world posting videos of amusement park rides under the name Coaster Studios, told Denver7 Monday more about the restraint mechanisms of the ride.
"It is two seat belts. Essentially the bar aspect of it is... the way that it latches into the locking mechanism, it’s kind of like, think of like a screw and so there’s like, different pins that when it is in place, you can’t physically pull it out," Bybee said. "Theme parks are actually very, very safe ... these maintenance people that work at the parks are inspecting the rides every single morning and making sure everything is good to go. it’s extremely rare that something like this happens and it’s an absolute shame."
In 2018, it was named the Best New Theme Park Attraction by USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Awards.
This story was originally published by Stephanie Butzer on Scripps station KMGH in Denver.
