BEACH GIRL DIES AS BOUNCY CASTLE EXPLODES
Horror in the heat
A YOUNG girl died after being flung “30ft into the air” when a bouncy castle “exploded” on a beach.
Shocked witnesses saw the blue inflatable burst in the scorching heat, “catapulting” the four-yearold from the play area.
Dozens of families watched in horror as she crashed onto the sand and
paramedics rushed to the busy stretch of shoreline after more than a dozen onlookers called emergency services to report an explosion.
Lifeboat crews and witnesses battled in vain to save the youngster as she underwent 15 minutes of CPR on Gorleston beach, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
But the girl, said to be around four years old, later died of her injuries at nearby James Paget Hospital. Officers were called around 11.15am following reports a child had been thrown from a bouncy castle.
One witness claimed that the bouncy castle had exploded “due to the heat”.
She said: “Just seen the most horrific thing in my life. A bouncy castle exploded at the beach and the child on it was catapulted into the air. Please do not allow your children on a bouncy castle in this heat.”
Karen Sell added: “I heard the most enormous bang and straight away turned round.
“I was at the top of the stairs near the cliff that overlooks the beach and people were all there and everyone was in shock.
“I spoke to someone who described how the girl was just thrown into the air and landed on the floor 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.
The police set up a cordon around the Bounce About play area but the rest of the beach remained open.
A joint investigation between the Health and Safety Executive, local authority and police has been launched
Kayla-ann Weaver, who was sitting metres away, said: “Never ever will I let my girls on a bouncy castle ever.”
Curt Johnson, 47, of Great Yarmouth, who runs Bounce About, refused to comment.