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DUBLIN, Calif. (KTVU) - Saturday's opening-day water-slide park accident where a 10-year-old boy was thrown from a ride in Dublin has prompted an inspection from the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (CalOSHA).
Inspectors from CalOSHA were at the new park called The Wave on Monday to see what defect or chain of events led to the rare accident.
The boy took the plunge and flew out of the chute landing on wet concrete and suffered injury, but was able to walk away. According to reports, no police or fire officials were called to the scene. At the time the boy's parents said they would seek medical attention for him on their own.
The $43 million water park's attractions closed after the boy was tossed off the slide, called The Emerald Plunge.
The slide drops riders 3 stories at an 80-degree angle before flattening out.
The owner, the City of Dublin, let customers and media alike in to use and inspect the facility, but with two of its three signature water slides shut down for now.
Patrons proceeded with caution, but didn't seem overly concerned.
"Definitely makes me concerned but there's definitely other features of the water park that we can still utilize, that are still safe," said Debbie Hoang who brought her family to The Wave on Memorial Day.
As the day warmed up and wore on, more and more people came to what's sure to be a major recreation spot when temperatures climb in the summer.
"Hopefully they fix the problem and it seems to be okay. So, it seems like there's a line out, so I guess people really don't care," said Marianne Atwan, a mom who brought her family.
"Obviously it's horrible what happened to him, but there's probably fault on both sides that can be addressed and fixed. But it doesn't scare me at all because I know if I follow the rules that are supposed to be followed, then I'll be safe," said park visitor Malia Howard.
Park officials say they are reevaluating the slide, but say they followed the manufacturer's guidelines for the attraction, including height requirements. On Sunday, the park closed a third slide to reevaluate its safety.
"I'm just guessing he got a little freaked out on the ride and just tried to get off while the ride was till really fast," said Ian Ondricek, a very young visitor barly older than the injured boy. In fact, his parents encouraged their au pair to give their son a chance to try The Wave. "I think the fun is the main reason we come here and why the parents suggested we should come here," said au pair Phillip Schlemmer.
The water park is 31,000 square feet and has three pools and a water playground.
It's likely that the open-topped chutes will be enclosed and padding will be placed on the concrete walkways. The main factor keeping crowds away was cool weather and cloudy skies.