Children injured after bounce house goes airborne

[April 04, 2011]  TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Authorities in southern Arizona say a boy and a girl were seriously injured after strong wind lifted the children's bounce house they were in and deposited it on a road.

Trish Tracy of the Tucson fire department told KNXV-TV the play house was blown across three lanes of traffic and landed on a median Saturday.

Tracy says the children suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries.

The National Weather Service says the incident was caused by a weather phenomenon known as a dust devil, in which a column of air can rotate up to 60 mph.

It was the second such incident this year in the area. Officials in Marana, Ariz., say a 10-year-old girl hurt her head in February when she fell out of a bounce house lifted by wind.

___

Information from: KNXV-TV, http://www.knxv.com/

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.