5-year-old boy dies when wind gust sends bounce house airborne at Maryland baseball game

A 5-year-old boy died and a second child was injured when strong winds sent a bounce house airborne during a baseball game Friday night in Waldorf, Maryland, officials said.

The incident occurred at about 9:20 p.m. local time at Regency Furniture Stadium during a Southern Maryland Blue Crabs game, Charles County officials said in a news release.

Several children were playing inside the bounce house adjacent to the playing field when a wind gust sent it about 15 to 20 feet into the air, the county said. The children fell out of the bounce house before it landed on the playing field.

A 5-year-old boy was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died, county officials said. A second child was airlifted to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

No further details were immediately provided.

A bounce house landed on a playing field during a Southern Maryland Blue Crabs game in Waldorf, Maryland, on Aug. 2, 2024. One child died in the accident.  Marie Ragano

Waldorf is located about 30 miles south of Washington, D.C. The Blue Crabs play in the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

The team said that Saturday's game and all corresponding baseball activities were canceled.   

"Our entire organization shares our condolences with the family mourning the loss of a child, and concern for the child who was injured," said Courtney Knichel, general manager of the Blue Crabs. "Our thoughts and prayers are with them all."

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