Christmas lights were turned off and a candlelight vigil was held in the Australian town where five children died after falling from a bouncy castle that was lifted into the air by a gust of wind.
Tasmanian police have released the names of the five children killed in Thursday’s tragic jumping castle accident in Devonport.
The five children who died are Addison Stewart, 11, Zane Mellor, 12, Jye Sheehan, 12, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, 12, and Peter Dodt, 12.
Three children were still in critical condition in the hospital and one child was discharged after the incident on Thursday in the island state of Tasmania. The dead were three boys and two girls aged 11 or 12, said Police Commissioner Darren Hine, who asked for the identities of the children not to be made public.
Children at the Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport were celebrating the end of the school year when a sudden gust of wind lifted the bouncy castle almost 10 metres into the air.
The town, with a population about 25,000, has rallied to support the families of the victims and the wider community around the school where the accident occurred.
Witnesses told police that the children were lifted about 10 metres before falling to the ground.
A candlelight vigil was held outside the school on Thursday night and some residents turned off their Christmas lights out of respect for the victims.
Devonport mayor Annette Rockliff said the tragedy would “undoubtedly rock the close-knit community for a long time”.
Tasmania Premier Peter Gutwein described the incident as “utterly devastating and heartbreaking.
Gutwein said the tragedy at Hillcrest primary school is beyond comprehension as police investigate bouncy castle accident and one child is released from hospital
A local supermarket worker, who gave her name only as Melissa, was among those placing flowers outside the school, which she said her children had attended years earlier.
“It’s almost unbelievable,” she said. “At work yesterday, you almost could not believe it after hearing what happened.”
People leave flowers and tributes outside Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, Tasmania.
