Bouncy castle ‘explosion’ kills six year-old girl and injures six children.
Police confirmed the death after they were called to an incident on Gorleston beach on Sunday morning.
The girl was taken to a nearby hospital but died of her injuries. Her next of kin have been informed and are being supported by police officers.
Sarah Allard, who was at the scene, said she heard a loud bang as the bouncy castle “exploded” and propelled a girl 20ft into the air.
She said a lifeguard did CPR for around 15 minutes at the scene before paramedics arrived.
Two inflatables had been set up and the beach was particularly busy, with weekend temperatures more than 21C.
“A lot of people hadn’t known what had happened,” Ms Allard said. “It was desperately horrible and sad.”
The East of England Ambulance Service said it received more than a dozen calls about the incident.
“Several of our teams were dispatched, with the first on scene in four minutes,” they said in a statement.
“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.”
Norfolk Constabulary, which was called to Gorleston’s Lower Esplanade at around 11.15am, said a joint investigation into the incident had been set up between the Health and Safety Executive, local authority and police.
“A police cordon has been put in place at the scene whilst enquiries continue.” a statement said.
In May two fairground workers were found guilty of gross negligent manslaughter after a seven-year-old girl was killed when the bouncy castle she was playing on blew away in the wind.
Summer Grant, from Norwich, was seriously injured when the inflatable was sent “cartwheeling” 300 yards down a hill in Essex in March 2016.
