Five children died and four others were injured when a wind gust blew away the castle at a school fair.
Image source, Reuters
Australians are mourning a “horrific” national tragedy after five children were killed in a bouncy castle accident, PM Scott Morrison has said.
The children fell about 10m (32ft) after a wind blew the castle skywards at a Tasmania school fair on Thursday.
Three boys and two girls – all aged 11 or 12 – died from their injuries.
Three other children remained in a critical condition on Friday, police said. Another injured child had been discharged from hospital.
Police have not identified the victims, citing their families’ wish for privacy.
Mr Morrison called it a “terrible tragedy”, adding: “As a parent there are no words.”
The accident has shattered Devonport – a city of fewer than 30,000 people – on Australia’s island state.
There would be “few people if any in Devonport that would haven’t had a connection to one of those families, to that school”, Mr Morrison said.
Flowers, soft toys and other tributes covered the lawns outside Hillcrest Primary School on Friday.
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Tasmania’s Premier Peter Gutwein said it was “devastating, heartbreaking, simply incomprehensible”.
“What should have been a celebration for the end of the school year turned into an unfortunate tragedy for our young children,” he said.
Investigation under way
It’s still unclear how the incident unfolded on a mostly calm and sunny day.
Australia’s weather bureau recorded wind speeds between 7km/h (4mph) and 22km/h on Thursday morning – a range considered average.
Police said they would investigate whether the bouncy castle was tethered to the ground.
Teachers and other adults had rushed to administer first aid before paramedics arrived, police said. Other pupils nearby were shepherded away.
About 40 students from grades five and six had been taking part in the school fun day.
In fundraisers set up online, a family friend of one victim described him as a “gorgeous boy” and a “beautiful, caring, gentle soul”.
A separate fundraiser for the families has already raised A$600,000 (£323,000; $430,000).
There have been other fatal bouncy castle incidents. In 2019, two children were killed and 20 others injured in a similar accident in China.
A year earlier, a girl died in the UK after being thrown from a bouncy castle that eyewitnesses say exploded on a Norfolk beach.
And two fairground workers were jailed for manslaughter by gross negligence after a bouncy castle blew away with seven-year-old Summer Grant inside, in Essex, in March 2016.