Little girl dies in inf latable trampoline beach horror
A YOUNG girl died yesterday after an inflatable trampoline ‘exploded’ on a crowded beach.
Horrified witnesses on the Norfolk coast in eastern England said they heard a loud ‘pop’ before the little girl, wearing pink, was thrown more than six metres into the air.
Lifeguards performed CPR for 15 minutes before paramedics arrived, but the girl had serious injuries and suffered a cardiac arrest, the ambulance service said. She was pronounced dead at hospital.
The girl, who has not been named, was believed to be no older than four.
She had been playing on the trampoline in a section of Gorleston beach called Bounce About, which also has an inflatable slide.
Owner Curt Johnson, 47, who was not present at the time of the tragedy, said the inflatable may have exploded in the heat.
Temperatures reached 23C at the tourist attraction as families made the most of the heatwave.
‘It is very upsetting,’ Mr Johnson added. ‘We have been at the beach
Child was thrown six metres in air
for a very long time, definitely a number of years and it is the first accident we have had there, and it is quite shocking.’
The deflated, crumpled canvas of the inflatable trampoline could be seen yesterday in a cordoned off area of the beach.
Police and Britain’s Health and Safety Executive are investigating.
Police said officers were called to Lower Esplanade at around 11.15am yesterday following reports that a child had been thrown from an inflatable.
It is not yet known who the girl was visiting the beach with, or whether any other children were on the inflatables at the time.
Sarah Allard, who was at the scene, said she heard a loud bang as the trampoline ‘exploded’.
She said: ‘A lot of people hadn’t known what had happened. It was desperately horrible and sad.’ Holidaymaker Karen Sell said: ‘I was walking away from the beach and I heard the most enormous bang and straight away turned around. Everyone was in shock.
‘I spoke to someone who described how the girl was just thrown about 20ft into the air and landed on the ground. It was just terrible.
‘A man was giving the girl CPR for quite a while before they took her to hospital.
‘The bouncy castle was not like one I have seen before – it was like a trampoline so you could jump a lot higher than a normal one.’
Kara Longshaw, who saw the tragedy on the beach, wrote on Facebook: ‘Just seen the most horrific thing in my life.
A bouncy castle exploded at the beach and the child on it was catapulted about 20ft into the air. Totally heartbroken to hear that the little girl didn’t make it. Thoughts and prayers go out to her family.’
Norfolk police said: ‘The young girl was taken to... hospital. However, she sadly died. Next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.’