A jury has awarded $205 million to the family whose daughter died after falling off an amusement park ride in 2021. The settlement ruled that the park showed negligence that led to the death of six year old Wongel Estifanos.

Estifanos fell off the then called Haunted Mine Drop at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Colorado on September 5th 2021. According to a report by the Division of Oil and Public Safety, operators did not prepare the seatbelts, resulting in Estifanos sitting on an already buckled seatbelt.

The report stated that the incident was caused by lack of operational procedures, inadequate training, more than one operator taking responsibility of the ride during a ride cycle, and a lacking restraint system.

Steve Beckley, founder of the park, said in a statement to CNN that park management were “heart-broken” by the accident (Vera Sept 21st 2021).

In an interview with CBS News, Kimberly Marcum, the marketing director for Glenwood Caverns, issued a statement saying that “while the jury allocated significant fault on the other defendant, Soaring Eagle, Inc., the size of the total jury verdict award puts the existence of Glenwood Caverns at serious risk. If the jury verdict remains as it is, hundreds of local jobs are in peril.” The park is still open today.

In a statement to KMGH, Dan Caplis, the family’s attorney, said, “These parents are so focused in protecting others from going through the same thing that what they want to do is use this lawsuit to get the full truth about this ride, about the operation of the park, the full truth on the table so that everyone out there can make their own decisions,” he said, adding that the incident “never should’ve happened and is 100% on the park.”

The ride has since been reopened as under the new name ‘Crystal Tower.’