Trial begins in lawsuit against Colorado theme park after 6-year-old's fall to her death

Jury selection has begun in a trial involving a Colorado theme park after an unrestrained six-year-old girl fell over 100 feet to her death. Wongel Estifanos died on the Haunted Mine Drop ride at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Sept. 2021.

Investigators said an employee didn't prepare the seatbelts before Wongel got on the ride, and she sat on top of the still locked seatbelt in a previously occupied seat. They also said an operator overrode an indicator notifying them that the restraints weren't properly secured before starting the ride.

Wongel and her uncle, aunt and cousins, who are from Colorado Springs, were on vacation in Glenwood Springs when they visited Glenwood Caverns. The Haunted Mine Drop ride, where she died, drops riders 110 feet. After the ride dropped the first time, her uncle looked to see if she enjoyed it, only to find she was no longer in her seat, but at the bottom of the shaft.

Following her death, Wongel's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the park, alleging:

• Wongel was killed by the extreme recklessness of the park and the ride operators.
• The park and operators knew that if they did not properly belt Wongel in, she would fall 110 feet to her death.
• The operators didn't place the seatbelts on Wongel as required.
• After a warning light on the control screen indicated a problem with Wongel's seatbelt, operators failed to check it.
• Operators didn't unload the ride after the warning light and overrode the indicator to launch the ride, although Wongel was completely unbuckled.
• The park failed to teach the ride operators what to do if a warning light went off.
• The State of Colorado determined that passengers cannot be expected to know how to correctly buckle themselves into the ride.

The lawsuit also claims multiple customers had notified the park about operators not properly belting in passengers prior to Wongel's death, and that Glenwood Caverns didn't turn over all of the customer complaints about the ride.

In 2022, the park announced multiple changes planned for the ride.