4 kids injured after wind blows bounce house high into the air, Arizona officials say

Several kids were sent flying through the air in a bounce house after a strong gust of wind uprooted it, Arizona officials said.

Around 4 p.m. Thursday, the kids were attending a party at a neighborhood park in Mesa, Arizona, according to AZ Family.

It’s not clear how many kids were in the bounce house when a strong gust of wind launched the inflatable structure toward the sky, but four kids between ages 5 and 11 were hospitalized with moderate to severe injuries, KNXV reported.

Wind gusts in the area reached up to 22 mph that evening, according to AZ Family. It’s not clear whether the bounce house was properly secured to the ground.

Less than a week earlier, two small girls were injured in a rogue bounce house incident Sunday near Chino Valley, Arizona, KNXV reported. A GoFundMe page for one of the affected families says their 6-year-old daughter broke her pelvis and several leg bones. .

The other child, a 7-year-old girl, suffered neck and back injuries.

“The bounce house they were playing in was secured with stakes and sandbags, but a dust devil was still able to pick it up and carry it about 25 feet in the air, launching it over a fence and onto a neighboring property,” the crowd sourcing page said. “It continued to tumble before coming to rest 75 yards from where it was originally set up. Hitting trees and cars along the way.”

This story was originally published May 21, 2021 at 5:41 PM with the headline "4 kids injured after wind blows bounce house high into the air, Arizona officials say."