Australia mourns 'terrible tragedy' after children killed

Australians are mourning a "horrific" national tragedy after five children were killed in a bouncy castle accident, PM Scott Morrison has said. The children fell about 10m (32ft) after a wind blew the castle skywards at a Tasmania school fair on Thursday. Police identified the victims as 11-year-old Addison Stewart, and 12-year-olds Zane Mellor, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, and Peter Dodt.Three other children remained in a critical condition on Friday. Another injured child has been discharged from hospital. Mr Morrison called it a "terrible tragedy", adding: "As a parent there are no words." The accident has shattered Devonport - a city of fewer than 30,000 people - on Australia's island state.

There would be "few people if any in Devonport that would haven't had a connection to one of those families, to that school", Mr Morrison said. Flowers, soft toys and other tributes covered the lawns outside Hillcrest Primary School on Friday. Tasmania's Premier Peter Gutwein said it was "devastating, heartbreaking, simply incomprehensible". "What should have been a celebration for the end of the school year turned into an unfortunate tragedy for our young children," he said.

Investigation under way

It's still unclear how the incident unfolded on a mostly calm and sunny day.Australia's weather bureau recorded wind speeds between 7km/h (4mph) and 22km/h on Thursday morning - a range considered average. Police said they would investigate whether the bouncy castle was tethered to the ground. Teachers and other adults had rushed to administer first aid before paramedics arrived, police said. Other pupils nearby were shepherded away. About 40 students from grades five and six had been taking part in the school fun day. In fundraisers set up online, a family friend described Zane Mellor as a "gorgeous boy" and a "beautiful, caring, gentle soul".

A separate fundraiser for the families has already raised A$600,000 (£323,000; $430,000). There have been other fatal bouncy castle incidents. In 2019, two children were killed and 20 others injured in a similar accident in China. A year earlier, a girl died in the UK after being thrown from a bouncy castle that eyewitnesses say exploded on a Norfolk beach. And two fairground workers were jailed for manslaughter by gross negligence after a bouncy castle blew away with seven-year-old Summer Grant inside, in Essex, in March 2016.