The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Young girl killed after being thrown from bouncy castle at Norfolk beach
MP expresses sadness after girl’s death in hospital following tragic accident
A young girl has died after being thrown from a bouncy castle, police have said.
Officers were called to Lower Esplanade, Gorleston, at about 11.15am yesterday, Norfolk Constabulary said.
The young girl was taken to the James Paget Hospital where she died.
Brandon Lewis, Conservative MP for Great Yarmouth, tweeted: “Absolutely tragic, thoughts are with family & friends, just so sad.”
A joint investigation between the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), local authority and police has been launched into the circumstances around the incident.
The child’s next of kin have been informed.
Images of the scene showed an area of the beach, with what appeared to be crumpled canvas and abandoned deck chairs, which has been cordoned off by police. Officers are standing beside the fenced-off area. There are also people in the background enjoying the hot weather.
The incident is the latest in which a fun day out with giant inflatables has turned to tragedy.
Married fairground workers William Thurston, 29, and Shelby Thurston, 26, who were responsible for the “entirely preventable” death of a seven-year-old girl who was blown away in a bouncy castle they did not properly secure, were jailed for three years in June.
Summer Grant was killed after a gust of wind lifted the inflatable from its moorings and sent it “cartwheeling” 300 metres down a hill at an Easter fair in Harlow, Essex, a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court had heard.
The couple, of Whitecross Road, Wilburton, near Ely, Cambridgeshire, were both found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and of a health and safety offence following the incident on March 26 2016.