(CNN) — Five children are dead and another four are critically injured after they fell 32 feet (10 meters) from a bouncy castle lifted into the air by wind at a school event in Australia.
Children at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, on the north coast of Tasmania, were celebrating the end of the school year when the tragedy occurred.
“Nine grade 5/6 Hillcrest Primary School students fell from a height of around 10 meters after a significant local wind event caused a jumping castle and several inflatable “zorb” balls to lift into the air about 10 am.,” Tasmanian Police said in a statement.
The five children include two girls and two boys — the gender of a fifth child who died later in hospital is not known. Four other children remain in the hospital with serious injuries. Typically children in grade 6 are between 10 and 12 years old.
“On a day where these children were meant to be celebrating their last day at primary school, instead we are all mourning their loss,” Commissioner Darren Hine said during a press conference Thursday afternoon.
“Our hearts are breaking for the families and loved ones, school mates and teachers of those children taken too soon,” he said.
About The Author
More Stories
Israeli missile strikes Iran
Guyanese authorities probing sibling’s deaths
World’s biggest election in India