Four children have been rushed to hospital after a jumping castle was lifted into the air and blown over a neighbouring fence in southwest Sydney.
Emergency crews were called to a home on Kelvin Park Drive, Bradfield at about 9.35am on Saturday after the inflatable became detached, NSW Ambulance confirmed.
Five children – three aged nine, one aged 12, and another 13 – were treated at the scene.
The children reportedly sustained injuries to their arms, back and shoulders.
All were conscious and breathing, with four taken to the Children’s Hospital at Westmead with non-life-threatening injuries.
Their conditions are stable.
NSW Police and SafeWork NSW are investigating the incident. It is believed all of the children involved were boys.
A spokesperson for the jumping castle company told The Daily Telegraph the owners had described a “massive wind” caused by a “freak tornado”.
“I’m glad the children are OK, that’s a positive thing,” he said.
He added that the property owners also had a generator that was “ripped away” by the wind.
NSW Minister for Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis said she was “deeply concerned” to learn of the incident.
“I would like to extend my thoughts to the children and families of all those affected,” Ms Cotis said.
“SafeWork NSW is responding to the incident, and inspectors are onsite making inquiries.”
The incident follows the deaths of six children at Hillcrest Primary School in Tasmania in December 2021, when a jumping castle was lifted into the air by a sudden dust devil during end-of-year celebrations.
Despite being pegged to the ground, the castle was thrown across the oval, fatally injuring five children inside and another waiting nearby.
A workplace safety charge against the operator was dismissed in court earlier this year.
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