Girl, 3, thrown to death from inflatable was with mother

Probe to try to determine what caused the trampoline to burst

A three-year-old girl who was fatally thrown from an inflatable trampoline on a beach had been visiting the area with her family, police said.

The youngster, who has not been named by police, was injured at Gorleston- on- Sea, Norfolk, on Sunday morning.

Norfolk Police said the child, from Suffolk, was with her mother on the beach.

Superintendent Roger Wiltshire said: “We were called to a report of an inflatable trampoline apparently bursting on Gorleston beach, following a call to the ambulance service.

“I’m very sad to report that a threeyear-old girl was injured in that incident and subsequently died in hospital.

“The witnesses report a loud bang before the incident but we don’t know at this stage what caused the trampoline to apparently burst and that’s the purpose of the investigation that we will be undertaking over the next day or so.”

He said the inflatable was designed to be used by one person and she was the only person on it at the time.

Police said experts from as far afield as Wales were assisting with the investigation, and a cordon is likely to remain in place until this evening.

Supt Wiltshire said the incident was “just unimaginable”.

“I’m a dad myself and you just can’t imagine what they would be going through,” he said.

“You come to a seaside town like Great Yarmouth and Gorleston for a day out, don’t you, and as a dad, you know, we’ve spent many hours standing by a bouncy castle watching the kids jump up and down.

“It’s just unimaginable.”

He said that the attraction was licensed.

Tributes including teddy bears and bunches of flowers have been piling up against a metal perimeter fence encircling an area of the beach.

The beach at Gorleston-on-sea, scene of the tragedy.