Girl Dies On Bouncy Castle: Arrests Made After 7-Year-Old Dies On Easter Sunday


A girl died in a bouncy castle in Britain after it got swept up by a wind gust and carried several hundred feet away.

According to Fox News, the 7-year-old girl, named Summer Grant, was at Harlow Town Park in Essex for an Easter event with her family when she lost her life. The young girl was playing inside an inflatable house when the unthinkable happened. A 25-mph wind gust was able to uproot the air-filled fun house, carrying it — and the young girl — over a trailer park before making a rough landing on a hill some 500-feet away.

The girl was in critical condition when the bounce house returned to the ground.

“It was a freak gust of wind that caught everyone unaware. It actually pulled the safety stakes out of the ground,” said Ray Smith, a representative of the Showman’s Guild of Great Britain. “Everyone here is absolutely devastated, in fact, everyone in the fairground industry is shattered by this. It’s so appalling that this little girl came to have a lovely day out with her family and lost her life,” Mr. Smith added.

News that a girl died in a bouncy castle hit the internet on Monday, with thousands of people surprised that something like this could even happen. It sounds as though the girl was the only child playing in the inflatable at the time of the accident, as there were no other injuries reported.

And while this does sound like an accident indeed, police have arrested two people on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence. A 27-year-old man and 24-year-old woman who work for the inflatable house company were taken into custody. They will both be facing charges because it is believed that this accident could have been prevented and the girl’s life could have been spared — had they done their jobs: If there was severe wind, the bounce house shouldn’t have been inflated… or, at the very least, no one should have been allowed to play inside of it.

The two unidentified employees were released from jail on bail. It is unclear if they’ve obtained attorneys.

The girl, who died in the bouncy castle, was pronounced dead at Princess Alexandra Hospital, according to Sky News. Ambulance crews worked on her at the scene, but she did not make it. It is unclear what her exact injuries were.

Her mom, Cara Blackie, talked about how wonderful her little girl was and how much she will be missed.

“Summer was a bright beautiful and most loving little girl, it is so unfair that you have been taken, it just doesn’t make sense. I’m truly heartbroken.”

Surprisingly, this certainly isn’t the first time that such a tragedy has occurred. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, a bounce house got swept up by a gust of wind back in June of 2015. This accident happened in China and left one child dead.

What’s even more strange, perhaps, is that this isn’t the first tragic event involving a bounce house at this particular location.

“Saturday’s tragedy was the second bouncy castle mishap at Harlow Town Park. Last year, three children required medical attention after a bouncy castle collapsed at the park,” reports Fox News.

Police are investigating the death of the 7-year-old girl this year, and may look at last year’s collapse as part of their investigation.

[Photo by Shutterstock]

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