Multiple students hurt after blow-up slide tips over during field day on Long Island
WYANDANCH, N.Y. -- The special end-of-year school celebration all elementary kids in one Long Island town looked so forward to, field day, was not supposed to have stretchers and ambulances and one child suffering a broken leg.
But that was the case Tuesday in Wyandanch.
"He flew like 15 feet up in the air and landed right by the gate there," witness Stacey Brown told CBS2's Jennifer McLogan. "I'm just praying they are all OK, especially that young man that flew up ... scared, they're all terrified."
Just before 10 a.m., children from Martin Luther King and Hardiman Elementary entered the rubberized tennis court in the park across the street, where several blow-up slide bouncy houses had been assembled. One inflatable slide collapsed, with more than a dozen children toppling onto one another.
"There were too much kids in the bouncy house. The thing fell over. Some people got hurt. They went to the hospital," 7-year-old Jayson Randolph said.
"He was in the bouncy house, and I guess while the kids were playing around, the bouncy house pretty much blew over and collapsed on all the kids," parent Jaunia Randolph said.
"Eleven people were treated here by a field physician from Suffolk County Fire and Rescue. They were released to parents or guardians from the school here at the scene. And then we had seven people that were transported by Wyandanch-Wheatley Heights Ambulance and also West Babylon fire department," said Paul Miller of Suffolk County Fire and Rescue.
Parents who rushed to the park to be reunited with their children demanded to know how the accident could have happened.
Christina Hicks said she came frantically, "because I heard something happened down here. I felt they should have notified everybody."
The superintendent would not answer CBS2's questions.
Many asked why the bouncy house was hooked to the fence.
"Why would you stake a bouncy house on that instead of on the ground? That's irresponsible," grandmother Brenda Hicks said.
"We set it up this morning and they were supposed to supervise. They said they had over 30 teachers. Where were they?" said Jacob Khoury of Jump Around Party Rentals.
"That's another thing: too much capacity. That could happen because these kids are all shapes and sizes," parent Katrina Clayton said.
In a statement, the school district said it immediately initiated a thorough investigation.
