MONTREAL — A 3-year-old girl died from injuries she sustained when strong winds lifted an inflatable castle into the air during a church party at Parc Ouellet in Montreal’s LaSalle borough on May 31. Eleven people were injured when both a bouncy castle and a tent were tossed by high winds during the event, with six of the injured taken to hospital.
Environment Canada reported wind speeds reached up to 50 kilometers per hour (31 miles per hour) on Sunday afternoon during the party. Coroner Martine Lachance has been assigned to investigate the causes and circumstances surrounding the girl’s 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). Denis added that inflatables present a large surface area and sudden gusts can move the structures, even when they are properly installed.
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. Kathryn Woodcock, lead author of a Toronto Metropolitan University study, echoed Health Canada’s recommendations, adding that inflatable structures should not be used when weather conditions, including high winds, exceed manufacturers’ safety guidelines.
A 2013 study by the Public Health Agency of Canada identified 674 injuries linked to 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 those injuries, with fractures representing more than one-third of reported cases.
In 2022, an 8-year-old girl died after strong winds blew a bouncy castle into the air during a fair in Mislata, Spain, injuring eight other children. In 2021, six children died in Devonport, Tasmania, when a gust lifted a jumping castle about 10 meters into the air during a school event. A 2017 incident in Caldes de Malavella, Spain, resulted in the death of a 6-year-old girl and injuries to six other children when an inflatable castle came loose from its stakes.