A 5-year-old boy died when a bounce house full of children went airborne and crashed down onto a baseball field in Maryland on Friday, authorities said.
The children fell from the inflatable, which was carried 15 to 20 feet into the air by a wind gust, before it crashed onto the field during a Southern Maryland Blue Crabs game in Waldorf, Charles County, officials said in a news release Saturday.
The 5-year-old, from the town of La Plata, was airlifted by a state police helicopter to a children’s hospital and later pronounced dead, the county said. A second child was airlifted to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The incident was reported at 9:21 p.m. County emergency services personnel were already at the game and, along with team trainers and volunteer first responders who were also in attendance, tended to the children.
“We extend our deepest empathy to the children and their families during this difficult time,” Charles County Commissioner President Reuben Collins said in a statement. “We thank our EMS team and the Maryland State Police for their swift actions to ensure the children received immediate care.”
The bounce house had been set up at Regency Furniture Stadium, where the Blue Crabs play, to entertain kids during the game, NBC Washington reported. The gust of wind carried it over a wall and onto the field, the station reported.
Witnesses said the bounce house had been secured by stakes hammered into the ground, according to the station.
In a statement, Southern Maryland Blue Crabs general manager Courtney Knichel said the team “shares our condolences with the family mourning the loss of a child, and concern for the child who was injured. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all.”
The team, which plays in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, canceled all baseball activities, including its Saturday-night game, and is offering support to families, players and fans who were in attendance Friday night, the county said.
La Plata is a town of about 10,000, around 70 miles southwest of Baltimore.
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