6th Kid Dies In Australia’s Castle Tragedy; Two Children Dead In Plane Crash
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Australia was confronted Sunday with the aftermath of two deadly accidents involving children, including a jumping castle accident and a small plane crash.
Australian doctors failed to save the life of Chase Harrison, who became the sixth child to die in the jumping castle tragedy in Australia’s island state of Tasmania, police said Sunday.
Chase, 11, was among nine school pupils who fell from a height of some 10 meters (32 feet) after a strong wind blew away the inflatable structure in Tasmania’s port city of Devonport, according to eyewitnesses.
Thursday’s disaster at the Hillcrest Primary School also killed Addison Stewart (11), Zane Mellor (12), Jye Sheehan (12), Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones (12), and Peter Dodt (12), police announced.
Chase was taken off life support while heartbroken relatives of him and the other victims killed along with wellwishers — left tributes, teddy bears, cards, and other items expressing their sympathies.
A fund to raise money for the families and the school has already collected more than 1.2 million Austrian dollars ($855,000), Australian media reported.
SPECIAL FUND
On Saturday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny paid their respects to the victims in Devonport after Morrison announced nearly 800,000 Austrian dollars ($570,000) to fund support affected families and the community.
The jumping castle concerns came while Australians faced news that two minors were among four people killed when a small plane crashed into the sea off Redcliffe, north-east of Brisbane in Queensland state.
The pilot was a 69-year-old man, with police saying they believe it was a booked joy flight.
Authorities could not immediately confirm the two children’s ages but said they were “younger than teenagers.”
Police Inspector Craig White said police divers recovered the bodies of two men and two children from the wreckage “about noon.”
The plane reportedly crashed off the end of a runway at Redcliffe and into the sea shortly after 9:00 am local time, according to
investigators.
A preliminary crash report was due to be ready in about eight weeks.
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