ORLANDO, FLORIDA - A Walt Disney World tourist was killed Sunday after he stepped off the Splash Mountain ride midway through it and was hit by another boat.
"He got out of the boat on his own. He wasn't pushed. He didn't fall. Why he did that, nobody knows," said sheriff's spokesman Bernie Presha.
"We don't know if he was trying to cross or if he slipped. He was struck by another boat in the same ride." The ride closed after the accident, which happened about 2 p.m., said Rena Callahan, a Walt Disney World Resorts spokeswoman. She expected the ride to reopen Monday.
Callahan said the 37-year-old man had been visiting the park with friends for the day. Witnesses told investigators that his boat was weaving through the inside of the artificial mountain when he stepped out, she said.
"Clearly, this is a tragic event, and our hearts do go out to the family and friends of this person," she said.
The man was taken to Celebration Hospital with serious injuries and was later pronounced dead, the Orange County Sheriff's office said.