A day at a popular British Columbia water park took a frightening turn when 12 children on a school field trip were sent to hospital after what officials described as an electrical incident. The injured were believed to be between the ages of 10 and 12, and the episode unfolded at the water park in the Fraser Valley, a site that had been hosting field trips for schoolchildren from around the Lower Mainland.
Officials were careful to explain where the incident did and did not happen. The children were not in the water, and they were not on a ride when they were hurt. Instead, according to officials, the children were lining up in a queuing area at the bottom of one of the water slides when a hand railing there became electrified, turning an ordinary moment in line into a sudden emergency.
Emergency crews responded in force to treat the dozen young patients. Most of the injured children were transported to hospital by ground ambulance, but two of them were airlifted out, and those two were described as being in stable condition with serious injuries. Emergency services would not say what type of injuries the children had sustained in the incident.
Attention quickly turned to the source of the electrical problem. Crews from BC Hydro said their initial work had identified that the electrical issue originated on the customer side of the electrical service, rather than within the utility's own infrastructure or equipment, pointing the focus of the inquiry toward the park's systems rather than the wider power grid.
In the wake of the incident, the water park was closed for at least the next 48 hours while officials work to determine exactly what caused it. Operators and authorities indicated the site would not reopen until it is deemed safe, leaving the future of the planned visits there uncertain at the height of the field trip and summer season.
The investigation is being led by WorkSafe BC, the provincial workplace safety agency, even though RCMP officers were also on scene as the events unfolded. That arrangement places the focus on how the safety incident happened at the venue, as investigators try to piece together how a routine line-up area became the site of a serious electrical emergency.
The timing has unsettled families and schools across the region, with students from several schools said to have year-end field trips still planned over the coming days. Some children due to visit the park soon expressed unease about going until it is clear what happened and the problem is fixed, while staff who work with students stressed that children deserve to have fun in an environment that is safe.
The venue at the centre of the episode has since been identified as Cultus Lake Water Park in the Fraser Valley, where the children had been on an end-of-year field trip when the railing became electrified. Officials said the park would remain closed while the cause is established, keeping it shut at the height of the field-trip and summer season as the review continues.
In a more reassuring update, officials said the 12 young patients were all doing well, including the two who had been airlifted, an encouraging turn after the seriousness of the initial response. Police also indicated that the electrical incident did not appear to be criminal in nature, steering the inquiry toward a safety failure rather than any wrongdoing, even as the RCMP declined to say whether any of the children had yet been released from hospital.