Teenage girls reveal horror of seeing 10-year-old boy ‘decapitated’ on the world’s tallest waterslide

TWO teens have described the horrific moment they saw a trail of blood following 10-year-old Caleb Schwab’s body down a waterslide.

TWO teenagers have described the horrific moment they saw a trail of blood following Caleb Schwab’s body down a waterslide after he was tragically killed.

The 10-year-old son of Kansas politician Scott Schwab died while riding the world’s tallest waterslide, the 17-storey Verruckt, in Kansas City, The Sun reports.

“I heard the noise, and I looked over immediately, and I saw his broken neck and him sliding down the slide leaving a blood trail,” Melanie Gocke told CNN.

Her friend Jess Sanford added: “I only saw Caleb slide down the last half of the slide, and then I saw the blood. His friend was screaming for help and I think that’s when staff members and medics and stuff started running.”

Witness to water slide accident: I saw him slide down, "and then I saw the blood" https://t.co/7EqQ8ToDxd https://t.co/zUYdNUrXBm

— New Day (@NewDay) August 10, 2016

It appeared those who reached him first “just realised he was dead and didn’t try to revive him,” she added.

Their horrific account of the tragedy comes as footage of rafts flying off the waterslide emerged, sparking new concerns about the safety of the ride.

The opening of the free fall water ride has been revealed to have been pushed back twice.

Footage of the ride being tested shows rafts flying from the huge ride with it delayed twice due to safety concerns and technical glitches.

Caleb Thomas Schwab, 10, with his father Scott Schwab in June. Picture: David Strickland/David Strickland via AP

When the ride first opened in 2014, co-owner and Verruckt creator Jess Henry told USA Today: “We had many issues on the engineering side. A lot of our math was based on roller-coasters at first, and that didn’t translate to a water slide like this. No one had ever done anything like this.”

The ride, which is taller than both the Statue of Liberty and Niagara Falls, left even its creator terrified.

“I’m still recovering mentally. It’s like jumping off the Empire State Building. It’s the scariest thing I’ve done,” he said.

Footage showed rafts flying off the Verruckt ride. Picture: Travel Channel

He said at the time that while the ride was dangerous, it was “safe dangerous”.

The Verruckt ride, which means “insane” in German, was open at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas, when Caleb was killed.

Witness Kelsey Friedrichse told People that she and her boyfriend were on their way up the huge water slide when they saw crowds gathering at the bottom of the ride.

She said: “There was a woman being treated for some kind of injury on her face and head. That was when my boyfriend said, ‘I think there is someone else’.”

Our deepest condolences to the entire Schwab family on their loss. pic.twitter.com/gYiffrxgkA

— Terry Zeigler (@KCKPDChief) August 9, 2016

The 27-year-old said she was horrified to see Caleb’s body being covered by first responders.

“It looked like he must have somehow been ejected from his seat, bounced around between the netting and the slide and just slide down. He would have fallen down without the raft, it’s kind of like a tube,” she said.

The park has since been shut down while an investigation into the boy’s death continues.

Other traumatised witnesses said they saw Caleb’s family crying as emergency services treated the other two women who were on the raft.

Schlitterbahn’s Verruckt waterslide in Kansas City is the world’s tallest. Picture: Jill Toyoshiba/The Kansas City Star via AP

Kansas Police Department has since released a statement, expressing their condolences to the Schwab family.

“The Kansas City, Kansas Police and Fire Departments responded to the scene and located Caleb Schwab, 10 years old, dead from a fatal neck injury at the end of the ride, in the pool. The 2 other adult female riders in the boat, not related to the victim, sustained minor facial injuries, and were transported and treated at area hospitals,” a statement said.

Police said investigations into the incident were ongoing.

Police are still investigating the death of Caleb Thomas Schwab. Picture: David Strickland via AP

This story originally appeared in The Sun.