Court documents allege an inflatable jumping castle which became airborne claiming the lives of six Tasmanian children two years ago was only secured at half of its designated anchor points. The documents obtained by the ABC outline the charge against the operator who will face court early next year.
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00:00 What was supposed to be a joyous occasion turned into a tragedy.
00:08 On the 16th of December 2021, six children were killed when a jumping castle was lifted
00:15 into the air by a gust of wind at an end of year celebration at Hillcrest Primary School
00:21 in Devonport.
00:22 The jumping castle operator was charged last month.
00:26 Court documents allege Rosemary Ann Gamble, who ran an inflatables business called TasZorb,
00:32 had arrived at the school earlier with two workers to set up a jumping castle like this
00:37 one as well as Zorb balls.
00:40 But according to the court documents, the castle wasn't secured properly.
00:45 Tasmania's public prosecutor alleges only four of the eight anchor points were secured
00:51 and the pegs weren't inserted at the correct angle.
00:55 The DPP also claims Ms Gamble failed to use the pegs recommended by the manufacturer,
01:01 that workers were ill-equipped to operate the jumping castle, that TasZorb failed to
01:07 provide workers with adequate supervision during the set-up, and that the company failed
01:12 to use a continuous wind monitoring device, despite having used one in the past.
01:19 The court documents said seven students were playing on the inflatable jumping castle when
01:23 a significant weather event occurred, which lifted the device in the air by the wind.
01:30 They fell and suffered serious injury and/or death.
01:35 As well as six deaths, three other children were injured.
01:40 Nearly two years after the incident, Ms Gamble was charged with failure to comply with a
01:45 health and safety duty.
01:47 She will appear in the Devonport Magistrates Court in February.
01:51 A coronial inquest into the six deaths is yet to start.
01:56 Jumping castles are now banned in all public schools across Tasmania.
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