Person appeared to have been thrown out of flying bouncy castle in Tauranga, witness says

Sunday, 1 January 2023

Video of the bouncy castle that blew away during a New Year's festival in Tauranga.

Patrons have described chaotic scenes that unfolded when a seemingly joyous bouncy castle turned into a rolling terror on New Year’s Eve in Tauranga.

Tauranga City Council said it understood two people were taken to hospital for assessment after the incident. Another three people were also injured.

Council acting chief executive Gareth Wallis told the Bay of Plenty Times just after midday the council had heard conflicting reports as to whether anyone was on the bouncy castle when it took off, or whether it had been cleared for a safety check.

Witness James Mason was at the New Year’s Eve celebration in Fergusson Park with his wife and two children.

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A still from video of the bouncy castle as it blew away during a New Year's festival in Tauranga.

He was with his son near the castle when it started moving, he said.

At first, the castle lifted on one side, and it appeared that several people fell out, he said.

The castle then moved about 10m, before a person appeared to have been thrown out, he added.

'[They] looked like [they] landed heavily. I think [they were] the only person in it at that time.'

He ran to the person who had been thrown out, he said. ' They sort of curled up on the ground, not really moving.'

He thought they were saying, 'my head, my head'.

At that point, a woman came up and said she was a doctor, and took over the care of the person .

'People were putting blankets on [them] and keeping [them] still.'

Tauranga City Council will conduct an investigation into what happened.

Mason estimated the castle travelled about 100m before people were able to stop it. 'It went across the entire festival,' he said.

'It rolled across a whole bunch of people.' He thought it must have hit some people in the crowd.

'It was going through the crowd. There were people sitting in chairs.' It was rolling and partly airborne at times.

When he arrived at the event about 6pm conditions had been fine, but by the time the castle broke loose – reported to police at 7.42pm - it was 'extremely windy'.

'There were massive gusts. It was getting worse and worse,” Mason said.

'People had taken canopies off their stalls. Everyone was aware the wind was getting a bit crazy.'

On social media, KC Ann Southee commented: “We were there. My kids were just about to jump on it and the lady working it said actually I want a safety check first. Then not even a second later it took off. It was chaos. I had to jump to the side with my youngest. And lost my 2 oldest amongst it.”

Southee whose sons are neurodiverse, said: “Worst moment of my life! I really hope all the people that were injured recover quickly!”

Southee told the NZ Herald she was “100 per cent no one was on the castle” when it happened, but people were still hurt.

Video posted to social media shows the castle hurtling through the crowd and stopping short of a nearby beach.

On Facebook, Jolene Wilson, who witnessed the incident described it as “quite horrible” and had wished those involved the best.

Worksafe has been notified.