Girl dies as bouncy castle blown away

[GummyBearz]

A seven-year-old girl has died after a bouncy castle she was playing on blew away in Essex, England.
A 24-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence.


The article is very short on details, but how does someone get charged with manslaughter for a sudden gust of wind? Another source said it wasn't a windy day, just a sudden gust.

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Possibly because they should be secured to the ground to prevent that from happening.

[GummyBearz]

3. That is the only thing I could come up with as well

I gave the workers the benefit of the doubt that they had secured it to the ground properly. But the article was short on details, so maybe they didn't.

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. Agreed.

Journalism has become a shoddy, shoddy business. How terrifying that had to have been.

[malaise]

2. Everything should have been shut down given the weather

but Easter weekend in Britain is very profitable
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/mar/28/storm-katie-flight-diversions-wind-rain-batter-southern-england-and-wales

[Dr Hobbitstein]

5. There are safety regulations for using bounce houses.

You HAVE to secure them to the ground via spikes. If you rent one, you sign a waiver acknowledging that you have read and understand the safety precautions.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Others disagree - they had cancelled booking because of the forecast

But safety expert Neil Gossage has said the bouncy castle in question should not have been used when wind or gusts are more than Force 5 on the Beaufort scale.

"This is a terrible thing to have happened," he told the Mirror.

Mr Gossage hires out bouncy castles as well as being a registered safety inspector and said he had cancelled his outdoor bookings on seeing the forecast.

He said: "This inflatable should not have been installed with expected conditions.

"It shouldn't have been up at all."

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/503876/child-dies-Essex-bouncy-council-horror

[Arugula Latte]

7. Terrifying and awful.

[polly7]

8. Poor little thing.

Yes, it definitely should have been secured with spikes - we've supplied bouncy houses for numerous town events and always do it, as well as trying to place them in shelter away from the wind - we get so much wind here. Terrible tragedy.