Water park tragedy as 35-year-old father is killed and three-year-old daughter injured when a 60-foot bouncy castle is blown 150 feet by a powerful gust of wind in France
- Tragedy struck the Wonderland water park in Saint-Maximin-La-Sainte-Baume
- The victims suffered cardiac arrests after a gust threw them about 150 feet.
- Both were resuscitated and airlifted to Marseille hospitals, but the father later died.
A man was killed and his daughter seriously injured in a shocking incident at a water park in which his bouncy castle was lifted into the air amid strong winds and hurled some 150 feet in France yesterday.
The tragedy unfolded at the Wonderland water park in Saint-Maximin-La-Sainte-Baume, in the Var region of southern France, when the 35-year-old father and his three-year-old son were on the inflatable in a of the park’s largest features. .
Wonderland had recently reopened after construction, but the area was subject to weather warnings due to high winds, and a gust lifted the castle out of the water and hurled it violently across the park with the victims trapped inside.
They landed about 150 feet away and went into cardiac arrest.
Emergency services were able to revive both the father and daughter and they were airlifted to a hospital in Marseille, where they were placed in intensive care.
But the father died later on Sunday night from his injuries. His daughter is still in critical condition.
Wonderland water park in Saint-Maximin-La-Sainte-Baume in the Var region of southern France
In the aftermath of the incident, the city’s mayor, Alain Decanis, took to social media to make a statement condemning the park’s lack of security and paying tribute to those who died.
“On Sunday afternoon, when I heard that an accident had occurred at Wonderland Park in Saint-Maximin, I immediately went to the scene,” he said.
‘I was able to measure the seriousness of the situation for a father and his girl at the same time. The inflatable structure they were on was lifted up and then carried away by a gust of wind and thrown violently 50 meters away.
“Firefighters and other rescuers arrived very quickly on the scene, but the situation was already critical when the two victims were airlifted to hospitals in Marseille.
“However, I was hoping for a positive result, and it was with great sadness that I learned late at night that Dad did not survive.
‘How did a water park that was accepted into communal territory to bring joy and happiness to children become a death device that terrified an entire family?
“Tonight I want to offer my sincere condolences to the mother who was present at the scene, who showed remarkable courage, and to all members of the family. the family.
All my thoughts are with them tonight.
Decanis added that prosecutors had opened an investigation into the incident.
