Chace Harrison: 6th child dies after freak tornado lifts bouncy castle 30ft in air
An 11-year-old boy has become the latest and the sixth child to be killed after a “mini-tornado” in Australia resulted in a bouncy castle going up 30ft into the air. Chace Harrison died in the hospital while two more kids continue to fight for their lives after the tragic incident in the northern Tasmania town of Devonport. The freak accident happened on the morning of December 16 when around 40 students, all 5 to 6-year-olds, were celebrating the end of term at Hillcrest Primary School.
“It is with a heavy heart that I can confirm an 11-year-old boy passed away in hospital this afternoon. Our thoughts continue to be with his family, and the families and loved ones of all the children involved, during what is an incomprehensibly difficult time,” Tasmania police commissioner Darren Hine said. Apart from Chace, the other five victims who lost their lives were Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, all aged 12, and 11-year-old Addison Stewart.
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Meg Aherne, Addison's aunt, said that the family is “devastated” after the tragedy while family friends of Zane's mother Georgie started a GoFundMe to help get funds for the family. The fundraiser described the school kid as “a beautiful caring, gentle soul who had challenges growing up with his autism and adhd but that never set him back he kept achieving.” The fundraiser has already raised $47,665 of its $71,260 goal.
“Georgie won't be able to work for some period of time where she makes fabulous cakes, cupcakes etc for a living. This has shook so many people and the community and we want to do anything to help make things a little easier for her at this hard time. Any help big or small will be appreciated and if you can't help financially please please share,” it added.
Bob Smith, who witnessed the jumping castle going up in the air while taking kids with it, said: “There was one really strong gust of wind on what is a beautiful calm day. At first we thought it might have been an emergency services training exercise then the reality of what was happening kicked in.”
Meanwhile, Tasmanian police have confirmed that a “significant local wind event” was responsible for the tragedy. But a parent stated, “They have called it a strong gust of wind, but it was more like a freak mini-tornado. And it seems like it was a freak accident. Only yesterday my wife was at the school taking photos of the children before the summer break. They were all so happy... what has happened today is just so gut-wrenching. Everyone is just in a state of shock,” before adding, “they were herding the kids from the schoolyard into the classrooms to get them away, but they had windows overlooking what was happening – so they had to move them again.”
Commander Debbie Williams said, “This is a very tragic event and our thoughts are with the families and the wider school community, and also our first responders. There is no doubt that this has been a very confronting and distressing scene.” An investigation has also been launched into the case that will “take some time”.