A Colorado jury has awarded $205 million to the family of 6-year-old Wongel Estifanos, who died in 2021 after falling from an amusement park ride at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.
Wongel was visiting the popular mountain-top attraction with her family on September 5, 2021, when she boarded the Haunted Mine Drop, a vertical-plunge ride designed to lower passengers more than 100 feet underground. Investigators later determined that Wongel was sitting on top of her two seat belts rather than being properly secured, a mistake that should have been caught by ride operators.
Court records revealed that two recently hired employees failed to notice the issue during safety checks. Despite an alarm warning of a restraint problem, one operator—who had not received adequate training—reset the system and started the ride. Moments later, Wongel fell more than 100 feet to her death.
Her parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, the ride’s manufacturer Soaring Eagle Inc., and the two operators on duty. After hearing testimony about safety lapses and the ride’s restraint design, the jury awarded the family $82 million in compensatory damages and $123 million in punitive damages.
Attorneys for the Estifanos family said the verdict sends a strong message about accountability in the amusement park industry. “This tragedy was completely preventable,” one lawyer stated. “Safety protocols exist for a reason, and ignoring them had devastating consequences.”
Glenwood Caverns has since announced design changes to the Haunted Mine Drop and said it brought in outside engineers to review safety systems. The park expressed sympathy for Wongel’s family but warned that the size of the award could threaten its ability to continue operating.
Soaring Eagle, the ride’s manufacturer, has also come under scrutiny for allegedly certifying the ride as safe despite known concerns with its restraint system. It is unclear whether the defendants will appeal the verdict.
The case marks one of the largest wrongful death awards in Colorado history and highlights the critical importance of proper training, safety checks, and equipment design in the amusement park industry.
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