Raging River Ride Ordered Closed Until Fatal Accident Investigation Is Completed

The Iowa State Labor Commissioner has ordered the Adventureland ride that was the site of a fatal accident this weekend closed until an investigation is completed. State officials did release five years’ worth of satisfactory inspection reports of the ride.

The Raging River ride was inspected last Friday. The inspector found “no code violations at this time” according to a notation at the bottom of the inspection report. Nineteen different items on the ride are listed as satisfactory, including the chains and belts that run the ride as well as procedures for training the ride’s operators and responding to emergencies. Inspection reports from previous years were also released, showing the ride has passed safety checks dating back to 2017.

An 11-year-old boy died and his older brother is in critical condition after one of the rafts on the Raging River overturned Saturday.

An attorney representing Adventureland says there has never before been a guest fatality associated with the ride.  There was an employee death in 2016 when he was knocked into the ride’s canal and the reportedly struck several times by the raft.