A toddler has died from wounds suffered when powerful winds launched a bouncy castle into the sky during a church gathering at a Montreal park over the weekend.
The 3-year-old girl was among eleven people hurt when strong gusts sent the inflatable structure and a tent flying through the air on May 31 at Parc Ouellet in LaSalle, a southwestern Montreal borough, according to emergency medical officials. Six of those injured required hospitalization.
Weather officials from Environment Canada reported wind speeds reached 50 kilometers per hour (31 miles per hour) during Sunday afternoon’s church event.
Coroner Martine Lachance will examine what led to the fatal incident.
Cathy Denis, who owns a Quebec-based inflatable rental business, explained she refuses to set up or operate bounce houses when weather forecasts predict winds above 38 kilometers per hour (24 miles per hour).
“That limit is important because inflatables present a large surface area and sudden gusts can move the structures, even when they are properly installed,” she said.
This tragedy follows a pattern of similar fatal incidents worldwide. A fair in Mislata, near Valencia, Spain claimed the life of an 8-year-old girl in 2022 when winds hurled a bouncy castle several meters high, also injuring eight other children who needed medical care.
Tasmania’s Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport witnessed an even deadlier accident in 2021 when wind gusts lifted a jumping castle approximately 10 meters (33 feet) into the air during an end-of-year event, killing six children and seriously injuring three others.
A 2017 incident in Caldes de Malavella, northeastern Spain, resulted in one 6-year-old girl’s death and six other children’s injuries when an inflatable structure broke free from its anchors and became airborne. Authorities investigated whether faulty anchoring or equipment failure caused that accident.
Health Canada recommends that inflatable structure operators properly secure their equipment to prevent movement, tipping, or becoming airborne.
Research from the Public Health Agency of Canada documented 674 inflatable attraction injuries reported through the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program from 1990 to 2009. Children ages 2 through 9 suffered the majority of injuries, with fractures making up more than one-third of all reported cases.
Additional research conducted by Toronto Metropolitan University scholars found that inflatable structures caused 42% of amusement ride injuries recorded in a U.S. injury tracking database during 2010 — exceeding any mechanical ride category.
Study lead researcher Kathryn Woodcock supported Health Canada’s operator guidelines while emphasizing that inflatable structures should remain unused when weather conditions, including strong winds, surpass manufacturer safety standards.
