1 child killed after wind gust sends bounce house airborne at baseball game
1 child killed after wind gust sends bounce house airborne at baseball game
Local Maryland officials say one child was killed and another was injured after a wind gust blew a bounce house into the air at a baseball game.
One child was killed and another was injured after a wind gust blew a bounce house into the air at a baseball game in Maryland on Friday night, local officials said.
Local emergency personnel received a call in Waldorf, Maryland, at about 9:21 p.m. Friday from the Regency Furniture Stadium reporting that a moon bounce house became airborne because of a wind gust while children were inside.
At the time, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs minor league baseball team was playing a game, and “the moon bounce was carried approximately 15 to 20 feet up in the air, causing children to fall before it landed on the playing field,” according to a news release from the Charles County government posted on its website.
A 5-year-old boy from La Plata, Maryland, was flown to Children’s National Hospital in Washington, where he was later pronounced dead, the release said. A second child also was flown out by Maryland State Police with non-life-threatening injuries.
Do folks not anchor these‽ this is so freakin’ sad.
They would have to drive the anchors deep into the ground to have any effect. The types of anchors I’ve seen on these things are little more than tent stakes to keep it stationary.
I think these need to be strapped to concrete barrels to be safe. Or banned if there is any wind over some limit.
I recently saw one which had foot-long stakes driven at an angle. I wonder if that would be secure enough. I didn't consider wind as a major threat at the time.
It also had a big pocket on the front that said in big letters that it just always contain the manual — empty, obviously.
They often have mesh (not bouncy) sides, and even landing from 20' on your neck on the inflated surface seems like it could be deadly. How awful.
That had to be the magic-bullet of wind gusts. Tragic.
This happened in Australia when one just blew away with a heap of kids in it. Does no one learn any more?
IKR. at this point I am angry this is still happening. There have been several in recent years. There is just no excuse for not knowing at this point. Andvthat includes the parents... extreme winds and storms were in the forecast.
So fucking sad