The death of a teenager from Florida who died accidentally after slipping through the safety harness of a free-fall ride is being investigated on Monday after it was revealed that the child weighed past the safety limits of the ride.

Tyre Sampson, a 14-year-old boy, was killed on Thursday night while riding the Free Fall attraction in ICON Park in Orlando, Florida. He reportedly slipped out of the safety harness of the ride before hitting the concrete below, to the horror of onlookers in the area, according to the New York Post.

A middle-school football player with hopes of becoming pro, Sampson weighed 320 pounds during his death–although his autopsy showed that he was closer to 383 pounds when he died, CBS News reported.

The ride itself has a weight limit of 287 pounds, with authorities finding that someone had adjusted Sampson’s harness to help him fit into the ride better, despite entries from the manual discouraging this sort of practice.

“Be careful when seeing if large guests fit into the seats. Check that they fit within the contours of the seat and the bracket fits properly. If this is not so — Do not let this person ride,” the manual stated on the topic.

The Orlando Free Fall ride is the largest of its kind in the world. Rising to a length of 430 feet, it is only 11 feet shorter than the SunTrust building, which is the largest building in Orlando. The ride rises to that length before plummeting down to the Earth at speeds of 75 miles per hour.

Sampson’s family is reportedly suing multiple parties for his death, which they argue was a preventable tragedy that was caused by negligence.

“This young man, he was athletic and he was big. He had no way of knowing,” Bob Hillard, the family’s lawyer, said. “This is going to be an issue of a lack of supervision and lack of training. A straight-up negligence case.”

Authorities and regulatory bodies hope that the event will help shape safety policy regarding amusement park rides for the better.

“We hope the subsequent findings will be able to inform us all as to how this tragedy occurred and will precipitate any changes necessary to better protect patrons of amusement rides in Florida,” Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Nikki Fried said.

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The case of a teenager who died after slipping from the safety harness of an amusement park ride in Florida is being investigated after it was found that he was almost 100 pounds overweight the ride's maximum weight limit. This is a representational image. Oneisha Lee/Unsplash.

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