Child dies on Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park ride, closing park through Tuesday
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is closed through Tuesday while authorities investigate the death of a child on one of its rides late Sunday.
The 6-year-old girl from Colorado Springs was fatally injured on the park’s Haunted Mine Drop ride at about 7:44 p.m., one of several rides featured at the popular mountain attraction, according to the Garfield County coroner’s office.
The girl’s identity has not been released to allow her family to notify other relatives, the coroner said.
The park issued a statement on its website saying it was “deeply saddened and ask that you please keep the family of the deceased in your thoughts and prayers.”
A park spokesperson could not be immediately reached Monday. The coroner’s office said park personnel administered first aid to the girl until paramedics arrived. She was pronounced dead at the scene and an autopsy is scheduled.
The girl had been vacationing in Glenwood Springs with her family, about 160 miles west of Denver.
The ride is one of the park’s oldest attractions and sits near its entrance, according to its website. It describes the ride as 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.”
Although the International Association of Amusement Rides and Attractions reports that about 1,200 injuries on average are reported annually, rides are relatively safe with only about one injury for every 15.5 million rides taken. Fatal injuries are even rarer.
In all, the association reports that approximately 385 million people take 1.7 billion rides at nearly 440 North American fixed-site facilities annually.
