Garfield County, Colo. (KDVR) — Lawsuits lasting years and investigations reveal more about the death of 6-year-old Wongel Estfanos, who was killed after being thrown from her seat and falling 110 feet on the haunted mine shaft ride at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.
“The size of the jury verdict, it’s certain to save lives, it’s going to send a message to the owners of this park and to every amusement park in the country that they have to operate safely, and if they don’t, there’s going to be a big price to be paid. So very confident this verdict will save lives,” attorney for the Estafanos family, Dan Caplis, said.
The investigation by the state revealed Estfanos’ seatbelt was not buckled despite a warning light being on, alerting the ride attendant. The report says the attendant reset the system and started the ride.
The report reads:
“The fatal accident was the result of multiple operator errors, specifically failure to ensure proper utilization of the passenger restraint system (seatbelts), and a lack of understanding and resolution of the human machine interface (hmi) screen error conditions on the control panel.”
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park claims that Soaring Eagle Inc., the manufacturer of the ride, made the haunted mine drop with a defective restraint system.
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park released a statement following the results of this ruling, saying in part:
“Our hearts go out to the family of Wongel Estifanos and everyone affected by the tragic accident that happened on September 5, 2021. 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.”
Caplis says while they are glad the jury sided with the family, he knows no amount of money will ever be enough.
“They’ll never be closure, right? I mean closure, I think, is impossible when a child’s been taken this way, but I think it will help the parents move forward because this jury spoke so loudly to the value of their daughter,” Caplis said.
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