Two people, including a 3-year-old child, were seriously injured on Sunday July 30 after an inflatable structure took off in a water park located in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in the Var. The mayor of the town announced the death of one of the two victims overnight.
[Mis à jour à 10h24 le 31 juillet 2023] A dramatic accident claimed the life of an adult and injured a 3-year-old child on Sunday in the Var on the site of a Wonderland Waterpark amusement park offering aquatic activities. An inflatable structure present in the park flew away while two people were inside: an adult and his 3 and a half year old child. The mother of the family was also present at the scene.
The two victims were helicoptered in absolute urgency to two hospitals in Marseille, La Timone and the North hospital, the vital prognosis of the two victims being engaged. First reported in cardiorespiratory arrest in the afternoon on Sunday, the father and his daughter had regained cardiac activity, firefighters said on Sunday evening.
On the night of Monday July 31, the mayor of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, where the park had opened this summer, announced the death of the adult, the 35-year-old dad. “Firefighters and other rescuers arrived on the scene very quickly, but the situation was already critical when the two victims were airlifted to hospitals in Marseille. I nevertheless hoped for a positive outcome and it is with great sadness that I I learned late in the evening that the dad had not survived”, explained the mayor, Alain Decanis in a publication posted on Facebook.
“A devastating unexpected tornado” according to a message posted on the establishment’s Facebook page
According to the first statements of the firefighters present on the spot on Sunday, the inflatable structure, which measured about twenty meters long and wide, moved about 50 meters, trapping the two people therein. The park, called Wonderland Waterpark, opened this summer. The park’s Facebook page announces its closure for two days “in solidarity for the victims and the families”.
The message also returns to the circumstances of the tragedy, park officials evoking “an unexpected devastating tornado”. The Var department was placed on fire red vigilance on Sunday, due to a “rise in temperatures, a drop in humidity, with strong winds locally, and still a marked drought”, specified Météo-France.