The family of a Marion boy who died last summer on an Adventureland ride has now filed a lawsuit against the Altoona park.
Michael Jaramillo, 11, died after a raft on the Raging River ride flipped over, trapping him under the water. He died from his injuries while his brotherDavid Jaramillo Jr. suffered serious injuries but did survive.
The new wrongful death lawsuit filed Thursday says Michael and David Jr. were trapped under water for more than five minutes. It alleges while the boys' parents frantically tried to flip the raft over screaming "please help me my kids are dying”, Adventureland continued to operate the ride, "forcing thousands of pounds of water down the river and releasing additional rafts, as the children remained trapped underwater."
The family claims no one from Adventureland came to help and say the day the accident happened on July 3, the Raging River ride had multiple equipment failures. The suit says management at the park knew about these issues and were unable to test them, they opened the ride between noon and 1:30 p.m.
They claim the three employees working that day had never worked on the ride prior to the day Jaramillo died and were inadequately trained to operate the ride.
The family claims while after the raft overturned, Adventureland failed to shut off the rapids for an extended period of time and that the park's staff did not arrive on scene until after patrons and nearby workers who were in charge of the fireworks show that night, helped pull the boys out of the water.
The suit also says emergency crews from Altoona police and fire departments were delayed to getting to the scene due to a locked chain at the access gate. They say no one from the park was there to unlock the gate immediately, which delayed potentially life-saving treatment to Michael Jaramillo.
Late last year, a state report cited 17 safety violations at the Raging River ride which included failing to supervise riders, using unapproved replacement parts, and having deficient evacuation procedures.
The park, which was sold to Palace Entertainment last year after Jaramillo's death, decided to keep the ride closed for the entire year of 2022.
Jaramillo's death was the second death connected to the Raging River ride since 2016.
Guy R. Cook, the lawyer representing the defendants, said safety has always been the top priority for the amusement park.
“Sadly, the tragic accident was the result of a number of extraordinarily unusual factors coming together. The claims of lawsuit will be specifically addressed in future court filings,” he said.