The owner of Klimmuur Centraal is a mystery as to how the fatal accident in his climbing gym could have happened yesterday. An 11-year-old suffered a fatal fall during a children’s party. “The most important thing now is aftercare for the parents.”
It is still unclear what happened there fatal accident last night in Climbing Wall Central, company owner Peter Kok tells AT5. According to Kok, the accident happened to a group of children together with a number of parents. “With us, parents can belay children, we believe the bond between parent and child while climbing is important.”
According to Kok, there is also an instructor present at all times and parents are explained the protocol in advance. According to him, it is therefore impossible that the boy climbed up unsecured.
“Climbing is a sport with a lot of social control. When a climber sees someone who is not following the protocols properly, they will be spoken to.”
“A climber is always assured of going up”
Director of the Dutch Climbing and Mountaineering Association (NKBV) Robin Baks also underlines this: “A climber is always assured of going up, especially at such a high distance.” He also points to the strict protocols that apply in climbing halls. “Despite the fact that climbing is a risky sport, these types of accidents are very rare.” According to Baks, something probably went wrong during belaying.
According to Kok, this is a ‘very unfortunate set of circumstances’ and he rules out that something went wrong during the belaying. But how? “As always, the police will investigate whether there was negligence in these types of accidents.”
The climbing wall is closed today following the accident. However, a meeting is organized for employees who need to talk about it.
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