5 kids killed, several injured in Australia bouncy castle accident
SYDNEY - A gust of wind lifted a bouncy castle into the air, causing several children to fall off, in a deadly accident in the Australian state of Tasmania on Thursday (Dec 16).
Five children died and four more were in in hospital, three of them in a critical condition, The Guardian quoted local police a saying.
They fell from a height of about 10m when the bouncy castle was blown off at a primary school in Devonport, a city on Tasmania's north coast.
Police confirmed two girls and two boys, all in year six, died in the incident at Hillcrest primary school. In an update in the evening, they said a fifth child had died. It was not immediately clear how many children were playing on the jumping castle at the time.
Images from national broadcaster ABC showed blue tarps hanging from trees near a ditch where the jumping castle came to land, with emotional police officers nearby.
State premier Peter Gutwein said the tragedy was “devastating and heartbreaking”. Earlier he told media in the state's capital, Hobart: "We currently have all of the relevant emergency services on site."
Several rescue helicopters and ambulances were sent to the school, police said.
"There has been an accident onsite at our school. We are closing the school for the rest of the day," Hillcrest posted on Facebook.
"We ask that parents come to collect their children as a matter of urgency."
The school was celebrating the end of term before breaking for the Christmas holidays.
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