Beach horror as little girl dies after inf latable trampoline explodes and hurls her in air
A YOUNG girl died yesterday after an inflatable trampoline ‘exploded’ on a crowded beach.
Horrified witnesses on the Norfolk coast said they heard a loud ‘pop’ before the little girl, wearing pink, was thrown 20ft 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, traditional trampolines and a rodeo ride.
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 (73F) at the tourist attraction, three miles from Great Yarmouth, as families made the most of the heatwave. ‘It is very upsetting,’ Mr Johnson added. ‘We have been at the beach 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, along with abandoned deck chairs, could be seen yesterday in a cordoned off area of the beach.
Norfolk police and the 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’. ‘ A lot of people hadn’t known what had happened,’ she added. ‘It was desperately horrible and sad.’
Karen Sell, visiting from Dunstable in Bedfordshire, said: ‘I was walking away from the beach and 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 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.’
Yesterday’s tragedy follows the death of seven-year-old Summer Grant, who was killed in a bouncy castle accident in 2016.
The inflatable she was playing on at an Easter fair in Harlow, Essex, was not properly secured, and a gust of wind sent it flying nearly 1,000ft down a hill.
Fairground workers William Thurston, 29, and his wife Shelby, 26, of Wilburton, Cambridgeshire, were found guilty of manslaughter
‘It was desperately horrible and sad’ ‘Heartbroken that she didn’t make it’
by gross negligence last month and jailed for three years.
Kara Longshaw, who witnessed yesterday’s 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.’
She added: ‘PLEASE do not allow your children on a bouncy castle in this heat ... totally heartbroken to hear that the little girl didn’t make it. Thoughts and prayers go out to her family.’
Local radio station Harbour said witnesses on the beach were left ‘very distressed’.
Sophia Kapoor, 17, who works at Jay Jay’s ice cream kiosk opposite Bounce About, said: ‘The police and paramedics ran down the slope and the next thing it was all cordoned off. ‘We then saw the little girl being taken on a stretcher into the back of the ambulance. Two adult men were also limping after it happened and were supported by paramedics. I don’t know how they got hurt. People who were on the beach said the girl had just been jumping when the thing burst and she was thrown into the air. Some people said it was a really loud bang and others thought it was more of a pop.’
Another employee at the kiosk said: ‘ The people who own [Bounce About] are good people. It seems to be very well run.’
A notice board on the beach says that five minutes on the trampoline attraction costs £2. Last night well-wishers were leaving toys and other tributes at the scene.
Norfolk Constabulary said: ‘The young girl was taken to the James Paget Hospital, however she sadly died. Next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.’