Six injured when jumping castle blown into the air
For the third time since February, a jumping castle was launched into the air by a sudden gust of wind, injuring an unsuspecting group of children Friday afternoon, authorities said.
This time, six children suffered minor injuries, including a 16-year-old boy who was taken to the hospital, said Capt. Trish Tracy, a Tucson Fire Department spokeswoman.
The other children were treated at the scene, Tracy said.
No one was in the castle at the time. The 16-year-old boy was with another group at the park and was struck by debris, according to parents at the scene.
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The wind gust, which Edwards described as a dust devil, swirled into the street before returning to the park and picking up the jumping castle, said Edwards, who was supervising a flag football game.
The wind grabbed the object and wrapped it around a light pole that stood next to the ramada, she said.
“It was like a microburst,” she said. “The dust devil came whipping around and picked up the jumping castle.”
Adults at the party told the children to get out of the jumping castle after the first of gust of wind, she said.
They gathered most of the children and huddled under a ramada during the dust devil, trying to avoid the flying debris, equipment and other objects, she said.
According to Edwards, representatives from the company that provided the jumping castle secured the object with stakes earlier in the day and stayed throughout the party.
The company retrieved the jumping castle after it eventually landed on the ramada’s roof, she said.
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