3-year-old girl dies after bouncy castle blown away by high winds in Montreal

A 3-year-old girl has died after 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 after a bouncy castle and a tent were tossed by high winds on May 31 at Parc Ouellet in LaSalle, a borough in southwest Montreal.

Wind speeds were up to 50 km per hour (31 miles per hour) on Sunday afternoon during a party held by a church, the government agency Environment Canada said.

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.

In 2021, six children died and three others were seriously injured after a gust of wind lifted a jumping castle about 10 meters (33 feet) into the air during an end-of-year celebration at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, on Australia’s island state of Tasmania.

In 2017, Spanish police said a 6-year-old girl died and six other children were injured when an inflatable bouncy castle came free from its stakes and flew into the air in Caldes de Malavella, in northeastern Spain, hurling the children to the ground. Investigators examined whether the accident was caused by anchoring failures or equipment malfunction.

Health Canada advises operators of inflatable structures to securely anchor them to the ground to prevent them from moving, tipping over, or lifting into the air.

A 2013 study published by the Public Health Agency of Canada identified 674 injuries associated with inflatable attractions reported through the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program between 1990 and 2009. Children between the ages of 2 and 9 accounted for the largest share of injuries, while fractures represented more than one-third of reported cases.

Another study by researchers at Toronto Metropolitan University found inflatable structures were responsible for 42% of amusement-ride injuries recorded in a U.S. injury surveillance database in 2010 — a higher proportion than any category of mechanical ride.

The study’s lead author, Kathryn Woodcock, echoed Health Canada’s recommendations for operators, adding that inflatable structures should not be used when weather conditions, including high winds, exceed manufacturers’ safety guidelines.