Girl dies after being thrown from bouncy castle

A young girl has died after being thrown from a seaside bouncy castle, police said.
The scene on Gorleston beach in Norfolk, after a young girl died after reportedly being thrown from a bouncy castle.The scene on Gorleston beach in Norfolk, after a young girl died after reportedly being thrown from a bouncy castle.
The scene on Gorleston beach in Norfolk, after a young girl died after reportedly being thrown from a bouncy castle.

Officers were called to Lower Esplanade, Gorleston-on-Sea, at about 11.15am on Sunday, Norfolk Constabulary said.

Lifeboat crews and nearby witnesses battled in vain to save the “seriously injured” youngster, who later died in the James Paget Hospital.

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The East of England Ambulance Service said it received more than a dozen calls about the incident.

A spokeswoman said: “We attended the incident this morning at Gorleston beach, involving a patient using inflatable equipment. More than a dozen calls were received at just after 11am, and several people at the scene including the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) were providing assistance to the patient.

“Several of our teams were dispatched, with the first on scene in four minutes. The young female was seriously injured and in cardiac arrest on our arrival, and was conveyed to James Paget Hospital. Sadly, despite all the of the efforts and interventions, she was pronounced deceased.

“We would like to thank everyone who rushed to respond the young patient, and did everything possible to give her treatment and care. Our thoughts are with the family at this time.”

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Images of the scene show an area of the beach, with what appears to be crumpled canvas and abandoned deck chairs, cordoned off by police.

Uniformed officers are standing beside the fenced off area. There are also people in the background enjoying the hot weather.

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.

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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.

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An inquest jury in May 2010 ruled the deaths of two County Durham women, who were killed when an inflatable artwork blew away, were accidental.

Elizabeth Anne Collings, 68, and Claire Furmedge, 38, died after the Dreamspace artwork blew free in Chester-le-Street in July 2006.

The huge walk-in structure - half the size of a football pitch - took off in a gust of wind with 20 visitors inside.

The inquest heard there were no detailed discussions about how the structure would be fixed to the ground.

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