Five-year-old boy dies after gust of wind blows bouncy castle into air
Authorities in Maryland have confirmed that a five year old boy lost his life at a professional baseball game after a strong gust of wind picked up a bounce house while children were playing inside.
The boy has not yet been identified.
Emerging details say that children fell from the inflatable bounce house on Friday, 2 August as the wind launched it 15 to 20 feet into the air.
According to a statement from the government of Charles County, the bounce house then landed on a baseball field at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, a neighbourhood in Maryland, where the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs were playing on Friday night.
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The statement also includes confirmation that the boy, from La Plata, was transported to hospital but was later pronounced dead, and a second child was being treated for their non-life threatening injuries.
The boy's death happened as the Blue Crabs were playing versus the York Revolution in an Atlantic League of Professional Baseball game in Waldorf, where the bounce house had landed near the first-base line.
NBC Washington reported: "Emergency personnel responded to a 911 call just before 9:30 p.m. saying that a bounce house had gone somewhere between 15 and 20 feet into the air due to a gust of wind while children were inside."
The teams then stopped playing, and the Blue Crabs postponed all of their games for the duration of the weekend.
Courtney Knichel, general manager of the Blue Crabs, said in a statement: "Our entire organization shares our condolences with the family mourning the loss of a child, and concern for the child who was injured.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with them all."
The statement also stated that the team are also "offering counselling and support to families, players and fans who attended the game."
The New York Times have reported that this isn't the first case of a freak accident involving bounce houses.
In April of this year, in Arizona, a two year old lost their life and another child was injured when gusts of wind picked up the bounce house they were playing in and propelled it into a 'neighbouring lot'.
Also, in 2021, five children in Australia were killed after a bounce house was lifted 30 feet in the air during the end-of-the-year celebration for the school.
The University of Georgia conducted a study that further determined at least 479 injuries and 28 deaths happened in 'wind-related bounce house incidents' globally between 2000 to 2021.
Kya Buller