A young girl has died after she was reportedly thrown from a bouncy castle on Gorleston beach, Norfolk Police has said.
Officers were called to Lower Esplanade around 11.15am on Sunday, Norfolk Constabulary said.
The young girl was taken to the James Paget Hospital where she died. The child’s next of kin have been informed.
Robert Halfon, the Conservative MP for Harlow, Essex – where seven-year-old Summer Grant was killed when a bouncy castle blew free from its moorings in 2016 – has urged politicians to consider a temporary ban.
He tweeted: “After two horrific tragedies, Government need to look at update of regulations and inspection regime and consider a temporary ban on bouncy castles in public areas until we can be sure that they are safe.”
Halfon has written to the speaker of the House of Commons requesting an urgent question on the matter on Monday.
Brandon Lewis, Conservative MP for Great Yarmouth, tweeted: “Absolutely tragic, thoughts are with family & friends, just so sad.”
A joint investigation between the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), local authority and police has been launched into the circumstances around the incident.
Images of the scene show an area of the beach, with what appears to be crumpled canvas and abandoned deck chairs, cordoned off by police.
Uniformed officers are standing beside the fenced off area. There are also people in the background enjoying the hot weather.
The East of England Ambulance Service said: “We attended the incident this morning at Gorleston beach, involving a patient using inflatable equipment.
“More than a dozen calls were received at just after 11am, and several people at the scene including the RNLI were providing assistance to the patient.
“Several of our teams were dispatched, with the first on scene in four minutes. The young female was seriously injured and in cardiac arrest on our arrival, and was conveyed to James Paget Hospital.
“Sadly, despite all of the efforts and interventions, she was pronounced deceased.
“We would like to thank everyone who rushed to respond to the young patient, and did everything possible to give her treatment and care. Our thoughts are with the family at this time.”
The incident is the latest in which a fun day out with giant inflatables has turned to tragedy.
Summer Grant was killed after a bouncy castle that had not been properly secured to the ground blew away at an Easter fair in Harlow, Essex, a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court had heard.
Married fairground workers William Thurston, 29, and Shelby Thurston, 26, were jailed for three years in June after they were both found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and of a health and safety offence.
An inquest jury in May 2010 ruled the deaths of two County Durham women, who were killed when an inflatable artwork blew away, were accidental.
Elizabeth Anne Collings, 68, and Claire Furmedge, 38, died after the Dreamspace artwork blew free in Chester-le-Street in July 2006.
The huge walk-in structure – half the size of a football pitch – took off in a gust of wind with 20 visitors inside.