Child Drowns In Great America Wave Pool

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jul. 12, 2007 (KGO) (KGO) -- A 4 to 5 year-old boy is dead after drowning in a wave pool at Great America in Santa Clara.

At first, 16-year-old Ryan Bula says he had no idea what was happening, and then he saw lifeguards pull a boy out of the water and bring him to shore.

Ryan Bula, witness: "I just kept saying in my head please get up, because no one wants to see a kid die, I was just crying while I was saying it."

The victim, identified only as a 4-year-old San Jose resident, drowned in the amusement parks' "wave pool" attraction.

Park officials say the child was discovered just before 2:30 this afternoon, in about two feet of water.

Lifeguards and paramedics attempted to resuscitate the child before he was transported to Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara, where he was pronounced dead.

Bill Lentz, Great America General Manager: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family this is a tragic situation."

Great America general manager Bill Lentz said the boy was at the park with his mother and sister, but did not know whether they were directly supervising him.

Six lifeguards were on duty, patrolling the wave pool, which just opened a few months ago.

This marks the 5th fatal accident at the park since it opened in 1976.

In 1980, a 13-year-old boy died when two trains collided on a roller coaster. In 1989, a 9-year-old died after falling on a water ride. In 1998, a man was killed when he climbed over a security fence and was kicked by a passenger on the Top Gun roller coaster. In 1999, a 12-year-old boy fell to his death on the drop zone ride.

Great America park officials have decided to shut down the water portion of the park Boomerang Bay until further notice. They are also taking a closer look at their procedures to see if changes need to be made.

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