Jack Affleck/Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
- A six-year-old girl died at an amusement park in Colorado earlier this month.
- Wongel Estifano fell off the Haunted Mine Drop at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.
- An investigation revealed that she was not buckled into the ride.
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An investigation determined that the six-year-old girl who died after going on an amusement park ride in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, earlier this month was not strapped into her seat, according to local news.
The girl, identified as Wongel Estifanos, visited Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park with her family on September 5 and got on the Haunted Mine Drop ride- which drops parkgoers 110 feet, Insider reported. Park officials previously said that state and local authorities were investigating the incident.
An accident investigation report released by the Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety on Friday cited "multiple operator errors" as the cause of the accident.
It revealed that Estifanos was not wearing a seatbelt on the ride. The report said that the operators did not realize that Estifanos was sitting on seat belts with only the tail of the belt showing on her lap.
"The control system of the ride prevented the operators from dispatching the ride and alerted them to a seatbelt safety issue on Ms. Estifanos' seat," the report said. "Operators took several incorrect actions and reset the ride seatbelt monitors, which allowed them to dispatch the ride. Because Ms. Estifanos was not restrained in the seat, she became separated from her seat and fell to the bottom of the HMD shaft, resulting in her death."
The investigation found that the operators did not prepare the seatbelts properly before letting passengers aboard, resulting in the six-year-old sitting on top of already fastened seatbelts.
The report also said the operators' training did not "appear to emphasize the inherent risks of the ride" and that the manual for the ride "did not instruct operators on how to properly address errors."
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park said they are "heartbroken by the tragic accident that occurred here on September 5," KCNC-TV reported.
Dan Caplis, an attorney representing the family, released a statement saying that the report "confirms that Wongel was killed because of multiple failures by the amusement park and its operators, including the operators' failure to buckle Wongel into the ride," according to the outlet.
"Wongel's parents are determined to do everything in their power to make sure that no one ever dies this way again," Caplis told KCNC-TV. "As part of this mission, they are asking witnesses to come forward, including folks who experienced problems with the Haunted Mine Drop before Wongel was killed on it."
The Associated Press reported that the amusement park is open, but the Haunted Mine Drop ride is closed. According to the report, prosecutors will determine if criminal charges will be filed after reviewing the investigation.