13 Hurt When Wind Blows Away Bounce Houses With Kids Inside In Oceanside
OCEANSIDE, N.Y. (CBS 2) -- A child is fighting for its life after wind gusts caused three carnival rides to flip over on Long Island, leaving at least a dozen others injured.
"I couldn't believe it," one witness told CBS 2's Kristin Thorne. "It was like something out of a movie."
A witness snapped pictures as one of the inflatable bouncy houses was thrown into the air.
Richard Dowd's two daughters were stuck inside one of them.
"As the thing was coming at me, I tried grabbing it and it just flattened me out," he said.
Kids who were standing near the bouncy houses, waiting in line, were also sucked up into the houses as one knocked into the other, forming a type of tornado.
Marianna Rhatigan's two daughters were both injured during the frightening ordeal.
"The bouncy house fell on me; then I just got hurt by my nose and my knee," Nina Rhatigan said.
"A rope got caught on my neck and it dragged me over, and then it finally got off," Lara Rhatigan said.
Their mother was frantic.
"I just ran, and by the time I'd gotten there, the other rides were blowing away," Marianna Rhatigan said. "Kids were being knocked over, and there were just kids lying everywhere."
The scary situation happened during a soccer tournament for Oceanside United Soccer Club. Police said 13 people were hurt when a huge wind gust caused the three houses to lift off the ground.
A 4-month-old baby was in his stroller when the inflatable houses scooped him up and tossed him into the air.
"[The stroller] was upside-down, with the baby strapped in it – strapped in the baby seat upside-down," a witness said.
CBS 2 tracked down the man who appeared to be with the company that operated the houses, but he said they were unsure what caused the incident.
Parents told CBS 2 they did believe they saw sandbags holding down the ropes to the houses.
Nassau County police said they were not conducting a formal investigation into the frightening situation, which they called an "unusual incident."
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