Almost two years after six children died in an accident, an Australian bounce house company has been charged with violating health and safety laws.
The kids plummeted approximately 10 meters (33 feet) after the castle at the school fair was blown upwards by high winds.
Taz-Zorb “exposed the children to a risk of death or serious injury,” according to the prosecution.
The charges were welcomed by the parents of the deceased children.
Addison Stewart, Zane Mellor, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt, and Chace Harrison were the six Tasmanian children who perished in the disaster. They ranged in age from eleven to twelve.
Three more kids suffered critical injuries.
In a united statement, the families of Zane, Peter, Addison, and Jalailah said, “This was a terrible tragedy that claimed the lives of our beautiful children,” as ABC News reported.
On the final day of classes before the holidays in December 2021, all of the kids were there at the Hillcrest Primary School fair when the catastrophe occurred.
About forty kids, together with their instructors and other adults, were present at the school fair, according to the authorities at the time.
Chace’s parents wrote a message at his funeral expressing their heartbreak and how “our world has changed forever”.
Devonport, a city of less than 30,000 people in Tasmania, was rocked by the horrific catastrophe. To commemorate the anniversary of the bouncy castle accident, the neighborhood came together last year.
Robyn Pearce, Tasmania’s work health and safety commissioner, stated that she had spoken with families of children who either passed away or suffered injuries on December 16, 2021, within the past year.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has filed a complaint with the Devonport Magistrates Court, according to a statement made by the region’s workplace safety agency on Friday.
Robyn Pearce of ABC News reported that Taz-Zorb, the owner of the jumping castle, has been charged by the DPP with a Category 2 offense under the Work Health and Safety Act of 2012.
Penalties for the offense could reach 1.5 million Australian dollars (£785,000; $970,000). Taz-Zorb has taken a call for remark from the BBC.
The allegations, according to Ms. Pearce of WorkSafe, include that the owner of the bouncy castle “failed to comply with a health and safety duty in a way that exposed the children to a risk of death or serious injury”.
One of the victims’ parents, cited by the Guardian, stated she was still inquiring into the school’s participation.
Georgina Gardam, Zane’s mother, expressed her satisfaction that the company had been prosecuted while also saying, “I still want answers about the school’s involvement in the tragedy.”
Ms. Gardam expressed her anticipation of “hearing the outcome of the criminal proceedings and subsequent coronial inquest” in her statement.
The WorkSafe inquiry had put a stop to a broader inquest into the disaster.
