What to know about the deadly Adventureland accident, one year later

Elisabeth Smith and Daniel Lathrop, Des Moines Register
·5 min read
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Nearly a year after an 11-year-old Iowa boy died in an accident at Adventureland in Altoona, his family has filed a lawsuit against the amusement park.

Michael Jaramillo died early July 4, 2021, the day after a raft carrying him and his family on the park's Raging River ride capsized. Jaramillo's death marked the ride's second deadly accident since 2016, when an employee died following a head injury suffered while working on the ride.

More: Adventureland negligence led to boy's 2021 death on Raging River ride, family's lawsuit claims

What happened at Adventureland park in July 2021?

The July 3, 2021, accident that killed Jaramillo also put his 16-year-old brother David in the hospital for a month and seriously injured their father. Their mother, Sabrina, another brother and a cousin suffered lesser injuries.

Sabrina Jamarillo later told state investigators that the raft started bumping on the bottom of the water-filled ride course as soon as it was launched. She said it began to fill with water, and after rounding a bend, overturned.

After harrowing moments underwater, everyone but Michael and David was able to reach the surface. The two boys, strapped in adjacent seats with a shared seat belt, remained trapped beneath the surface, according to the lawsuit.

More: 11-year-old's death prompts Register investigation of water ride safety

A woman from another raft and workers setting up a fireworks display nearby were able to free them, but only after they had been underwater for seven to 10 minutes, according to the suit.

Michael died at a hospital and his brother had to be placed in a medically induced coma before beginning a slow recovery that has left him with some cognitive difficulties.

More: Parents of boy killed on Adventureland's Raging River ride give harrowing account of fatal accident

Have there been other incidents on the Raging River ride?

In June 2016, Steve Booher was injured while unloading patrons from the Raging River. The 68-year-old died four days later from head trauma.

According to records, the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Adventureland $4,500 in connection with his death.

In December 2020, the park settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Booher's wife of 47 years and their adult children for an undisclosed sum.

More on Booher's death:

Before the 2021 Adventureland fatal accident, similar water rides proved deadly

A Des Moines Register investigation found a decades-long string of deaths and injuries has been connected to simulated river rapids rides, including some made by the Liechtenstein-based manufacturer of Raging River, Intamin Amusement Rides.

The Register's investigation also found that the conditions at Adventureland the day of the accident that killed Michael were consistent with dangers identified in a service bulletin from a competing ride maker and in a pair of government reviews conducted after fatal accidents.

Here's what the investigation, which collected hundreds of accident reports and reviewed a dozen safety-related databases, found:

  • There have been at least 21 serious accidents involving river rapids rides since 1984, and at least eight people have died in them.

  • At least nine of the previous accidents involved capsized rafts, several on Intamin-made rides.

  • Intamin had not issued service bulletins to Adventureland requiring or recommending measures that had been put in place on similar rides in other countries.

  • Another ride maker issued a bulletin calling for video surveillance of all parts of ride courses. Adventureland did not have such a system on the Raging River ride. The accident happened out of view of the ride operator.

More from the 2021 investigation: Rides like Adventureland's Raging River are connected to serious, sometimes fatal, accidents

Why is the Raging River closed at Adventureland?

Late last year, international amusement park operator Palace Entertainment bought Adventureland from the Krantz family, who had owned it since it opened in 1974. In April, Palace told the Des Moines Register it would keep Raging River closed for the 2022 season.

General manager Bill Lentz said his team had not decided whether the 39-year-old ride will ever reopen.

"We make sure that every attraction is safe to open," said Lentz, adding that Adventureland "won't open any attraction unless it is safe."

More: River rafting rides at amusement parks have a 37-year record of accidents — some are fatal

Adventureland worker detailed repair issues in state probe of fatal accident

During the state's investigation of the 2021 tragedy, a former rides manager at Adventureland told state investigators the park kept rides operating with "duct tape and bubble gum."

"It's such a beautiful park, and I just hope that maybe by me saying something that the accident that tragically happened will never happen again," Melvin McCollum told Iowa Division of Labor officials in a telephone interview, one of a series of recorded conversations with park employees, witnesses and others obtained by the Des Moines Register.

More: Adventureland kept rides afloat with ‘duct tape and bubble gum,’ ex-rides manager told investigators

A lawyer for the Krantzes disputed the allegations and McCollum's basis for making them.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, alleges that Adventureland failed to ensure that "ride maintenance and repairs were not hastily and cheaply conducted in a sub-standard manner not recommended by a manufacturer … resulting in exposure to injury and damage by Adventure Land patrons."

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What to know about the deadly 2021 Adventureland accident