5 Students Fall To Death After School's Jumping Castle Blown Away By Wind

The death toll of the jumping castle incident at a primary school in Tasmania, Australia, which saw the inflatable and several children get thrown into the air, has risen to five.

All of the victims were Year 5 and Year 6 students celebrating Hillcrest Primary School's "Big Day In" end-of-the-year event on Thursday morning, Australian broadcaster ABC reported.

Two of the deceased children have been identified as Zane Gardam and Addison Stewart, according to 7News.com.au.

A gust of wind reportedly picked up the jumping castle as well as several “zorb balls” -- transparent inflatable balls where people stand inside -- and hurled them into the air at around 10 a.m. on the day of the incident.

The castle rose to about 10 meters (39 feet) in the air, which resulted in the children falling.

Some landed on the Devonport school's sports oval, while others fell on the hilly slope at the edge.

Authorities confirmed two fatalities by Thursday afternoon, but the number later rose to five. Four other children remained in the hospital, three of whom were in critical condition.

While police claimed the cause of the incident was a "wind event" and a "gust," the nearest weather bureau monitoring site at Devonport Airport did not record anything out of the ordinary.

The strongest gust recorded at the time of the incident had a speed of about 22 kilometers (13.67 miles) per hour, "which is not atypical for the area and wouldn't be considered extremely strong," Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Anna Forrest said.

"It's a fairly light wind... It's quite mild. Before anyone in the bureau would call it strong [wind], it has to get to 46 kilometers an hour," Forrest explained.

Authorities have not yet confirmed what was used to anchor the jumping castle to the ground.

The coroner has visited the scene. Police are still investigating and gathering evidence. The investigation would take "quite some time," Tasmania Police Commissioner Darren Hine said.

All evidence gathered would form the basis of a future inquest into the deaths, according to Hine.

A GoFundMe campaign was launched to support Stewart's family following the incident. The page described her as a "sweet, kind [and] old soul."

Another fundraiser, this time for Gardam's family, called the boy "a beautiful, caring [and] gentle soul."

The GoFundMe for Stewart's family has raised more than AU$42,000 ($30,150), while Gardam's was nearly halfway through its AU$100,000 ($71,780) goal with a little over AU$44,500 ($31,940) worth of donations received.