MONTREAL (AP) — A 3-year-old girl died from injuries she sustained when strong winds tossed an inflatable castle into the air during a party at a Montreal park last weekend. Eleven people were injured with six of them sent to hospital when a bouncy castle and a tent were tossed by high winds on May 31 at Parc Ouellet in LaSalle, a borough in southwest Montreal, emergency medical services said.The government agency Environment Canada said wind speeds were up to 50 km per hour (31 miles per hour) on Sunday afternoon during a party held by a church. Coroner Martine Lachance has been assigned to investigate the causes and circumstances surrounding the death.Cathy Denis, owner of an inflatable-structure rental company in Quebec, said she doesn’t install or operate bouncy castles or similar inflatables when forecasts call for wind speeds exceeding 38 kilometers per hour (24 miles per hour).
She said that limit is important because inflatables present a large surface area and sudden gusts can move the structures, even when they are properly installed.Similar deaths have occurred around the world in recent years. In 2022, an 8-year-old girl died from her injuries after strong winds blew a bouncy castle several meters into the air during a fair in Mislata, near Valencia, Spain. Eight other children were injured, some requiring hospital treatment.
