New Year's Eve partygoers have recalled the "horrifying" moment the wind picked up a bouncy castle and tumbled it across a park in Tauranga.
A police spokesperson said they received a report of the incident at Fergusson Park at 7:42pm on Saturday. Footage posted to social media in the aftermath showed a large crowd gathered around the upturned castle.
The Tauranga City Council said five people were injured and it understands two of these people were taken to hospital.
"We are currently taking written statements from those involved and we're working with the bouncy castle operator, ROCKUP (North) Ltd, to ascertain exactly what took place," they said in a statement.
"Council awaits further direction from WorkSafe who we expect will be in touch again on 4 January."
A witness said the bouncy castle just "gave way".
"The first reaction was just to try and get there to see if we could give some help, but I think the castle had already given way and started to roll," he told Newshub.
Another man said it happened "so quickly".
"A lot of people were screaming, getting out of the way. A lot of people ran towards it to help to get it stopped."
One woman said the bouncy castle tumbling away was a "pretty tragic" thing to see.
"The bouncy castle, with the wind, it just took off into the air," she said.
"There were people screaming, people were horrified here. It's just been a disaster and it ruined the night."
Six children were killed in a similar incident in Australia in 2021. A bouncy castle was lifted into the air by a sudden wind gust and children fell about 10 metres from it. Several Zorb balls with children inside also flew into the air.
