Local News

SANTA CLARA (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― Thrill-seekers and vacationers poured into the Great America amusement park under sunny skies Friday, but many parents harbored darker thoughts and safety concerns a day after a 4-year-old drowned in a mechanical wave pool.

"It's sad," said Tareq Tarin of Arizona, who was visiting the Santa Clara theme park with his 8-year-old daughter. "I think they should put a limit on age and height. Usually they have it on the rides."

State and local investigators were still searching for clues in the death of Carlos Alexnoro Flores of San Jose, found unconscious Thursday afternoon in two feet of water in the 355,000-gallon Great Barrier Reef attraction in the park's aquatic themed "Boomerang Bay" area.

Several lifeguards pulled the boy from the water and began CPR until paramedics arrived. Paramedics continued CPR en route to a local hospital where Carlos was declared deceased.

Park spokesman Gene Fruge said Friday that the wave pool, which reaches a maximum depth of 6 feet, remained closed indefinitely as investigators look further into how the boy drowned inside the park's newest water attraction.

Some parents who visited the park Thursday said the pool, which opened over Memorial Day weekend, seemed too crowded for the six lifeguards on duty to adequately supervise. It was unclear whether boy, who was visiting the park with his sister and mother, was being supervised when he drowned.

Great America General Manager Bill Lentz said the park advises that children under 48 inches tall wear life vests, which are available at the pool, but it's not mandatory.

The park's lifeguards are taught to use a system of visual assessment to determine if too many people are in the pool. Fruge said staff were following those protocols Thursday but said he could not provide details of the system, which was developed by a national lifeguard training consultant.

Fruge would not say whether the park was considering policy changes. "We'll look at all the facts and make all the decisions after that," he said.

Drowning is a leading cause of death among children under 4 years old, said Alan Korn, public policy director for the Washington, D.C.-based Safe Kids organization.

Amusement parks generally are "wildly safe," he said, "but that doesn't mean you throw caution to the wind."

Parents said the death emphasized the need for more supervision.

"A 4-year-old should be with their parent at least until they've had swim lessons," said Charles Hall, visiting from Denver with his wife and their two children.

Union City mother Talwinder Shahi, who was at the park with her son and daughter, said she was "a little worried, but not too much," about visiting the park's other water attractions Friday. The wave pool is closed indefinitely until an investigation by park, police and state officials is complete.

Keeping children safe "could be both the parents and the park's responsibility," she said.

Santa Clara police, the California Division of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the California Department of Industrial Relations were all investigating the wave pool, which is considered a mechanical ride.

Industrial Relations investigators will focus on lifeguard training, where they were positioned, and the ratio of lifeguards to pool users, said department spokeswoman Kate McGuire.

A department investigator made a surprise inspection Monday and discovered one problem: A lifeguard who was relieved by another lifeguard had not made the required zone scan before leaving. The investigator discussed the relatively minor infraction with park staff, said department spokesman Dean Fryer.

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