Story summary
A coronial inquest began on December 5, 2023, in Devonport, Tasmania, into the deaths of six children who died and three others who were seriously injured when a freak wind gust tossed a jumping castle across the school oval at Hillcrest Primary School during an end-of-year celebration on December 16, 2021. The tragedy involved students Addison Stewart, Chace Harrison, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt, and Zane Mellor. The inquest, before Coroner Olivia McTaggart, is expected to run for four days this week, with further sessions set for November and February.
The court heard details about the chaotic scene from first responders like Constable Dean Wotherspoon, who described it as an "organised chaos" where police officers, school staff, paramedics, and others were doing everything possible to save the children. Assistant Commissioner Adrian Bodnar, who also attended the Port Arthur shooting massacre in 1996, shared that reviewing body-worn footage from the jumping castle incident brought back traumatic memories of that event.
The tragedy led to protocol changes at hospitals, including Tasmania's Mersey Community Hospital (MCH), where some of the impacted children remained unidentified for hours. Meteorological experts classified the wind gust as a dust devil with "enormous force" unlikely to be predicted accurately in Tasmania. The inquest will examine whether rules governing inflatable amusement devices need to be tightened to prevent similar tragedies from occurring again.
Written for “Hillcrest Jumping Castle Tragedy” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.
In short:
Six children died in 2021 after a jumping castle became airborne during an end-of-year event at a school in Devonport, in Tasmania's north.
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castle → die → north
The tragedy was the most serious mass casualty event in north-west Tasmania in two decades and has led to protocol changes in the way patients are identified, a coronial inquest has heard.
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inquest → lead → way
The inquest, before Coroner Olivia McTaggart, is expected to run for four days this week before resuming in November and February.
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inquest → expect → November
The Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle tragedy triggered an emergency response at a level not seen at a northwest Tasmanian hospital in almost 20 years, a court has heard.
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court → trigger → years
Tasmanian Health Service executive Paula Hyland said the nature of the tragedy meant some of the impacted children remained unidentified for hours, even as their families waited for news.
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families → say → news
Ms Hyland gave evidence on Tuesday morning at the coronial inquest of the events that unfolded nearly five years earlier at the Devonport-area primary school, on December 16.
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that → give → December
Students Addison Stewart, Chace Harrison, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt and Zane Mellor died, and three of their classmates were seriously injured when a freak wind tossed a jumping castle across their school oval during end-of-year celebrations.
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wind → die → celebrations
The inquest, currently in its second day, is scheduled to run for four days this week ahead of further hearing blocks in November and February.
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inquest → schedule → November
Code brown last triggered in 2001
Ms Hyland told Coroner Olivia McTaggart the tragedy triggered a code brown at the Mersey Community Hospital (MCH), which is a nationally recognised emergency code for a mass casualty event.
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which → trigger → event
She said the last code brown declared in the state's north-west was in 2001, when a bus crash at Cradle Mountain killed four and critically injured six others.
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crash → say → others
The inquest heard the code brown for Hillcrest instigated the dispatch of a range of healthcare professionals to the MCH emergency department, and that where possible existing patients were discharged to make way for the injured children.
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patients → hear → children
The court heard the first of the six children arrived at the hospital at about 10.45 am on the day of the tragedy.
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first → hear → tragedy
Focus on treatment over identification
Ms Hyland said two of the children were pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital, while resuscitation efforts on other children continued for several hours.
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efforts → focus → hours
While giving evidence on Monday morning, Georgie Burt — the mother of victim Zane Mellor — described the scene at MCH when she arrived looking for her son.
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she → give → son
"I could see the staff just going for their lives trying to save these kids,"Ms Burt said.
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Burt → see → lives
But, she said her son was not there, and she did not find out until sometime later that he had died at the scene and was not at that hospital.
Ms Hyland said Zane was transferred directly to the Royal Hobart Hospital mortuary from the school grounds.
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Zane → say → grounds
She said the children who arrived at the MCH were unidentified.
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who → say → MCH
"Our focus was on lifesaving treatment that needed to be provided to the children … identification wasn't the key priority at that time,"she said.
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identification → need → time,"she
Ms Hyland said she did not believe the lack of identification affected the care the children received, but it did make it difficult to provide information to the families.
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it → say → families
The court heard that the mother of victim Jye Sheehan waited in the MCH for four hours after her son had been declared dead before he was identified and she was informed.
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she → hear → hours
Ms Hyland said during the morning of the tragedy a Hillcrest Primary School teacher arrived at the hospital to help police and hospital staff identify the children.
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police → say → children
Hospital adopts real-time information
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Hospital → adopt → information
The court heard an identification protocol had been developed in the years since the Hillcrest tragedy.
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protocol → hear → tragedy
Ms Hyland said the development included the patient's digital health record, that information could be included in real time, and included reference to their location within the hospital.
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information → say → hospital
But, she said there has not been another mass casualty event in the state's north-west since Hillcrest, so that protocol had not yet been used in a similar context.
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protocol → say → context
She also said the tragedy continued to have a profound effect on staff in the Tasmanian health service.
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tragedy → say → service
"The MCH is a very tight-knit community, as is the entire north-west," Ms Hyland said.
"Many of our staff would have known or known of children or relatives who were affected.
"
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who → knit → children
It has had a long-lasting impact for everyone involved, even if they weren't there on the day."
Lawyer questions delays for families
State forensic pathologist Andrew Reid gave evidence on Tuesday about the post-mortem investigations conducted on the children.
Dr Reid was also questioned by a lawyer for the families about the lack of access they had to their children after their deaths.
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they → have → deaths
On Monday, Ms Burt said she was not able to see her son's body until three days after his death, at the funeral home.
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she → say → home
Dr Reid said staff at his laboratory had worked as quickly as possible to conclude examinations so the children could be transferred to the funeral homes.
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children → say → homes
"I'm sorry, I was not aware of this issue until this week," Dr Reid said.
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Reid → say → week
"For all of the victims, we were keen to not do disproportionate investigations … and to release them as soon as possible."
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we → do → them
Counsel assisting the coroner, Maree Norton SC, asked Dr Reid whether other medical or surgical interventions could have changed the tragic outcome for each of the six children.
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interventions → assist → children
"No, I don't believe it would have," Dr Reid said.
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Reid → believe → ?
Yesterday, on the opening day of the inquest, the court heard how the tragedy occurred and how the coronial inquest was expected to proceed.
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inquest → hear → inquest
The Aporia
