TWO KILLED AS WIND BLOWS INFLATABLE MAZE INTO THE AIR

RIP THIS HAPPENED IN 2006
Watched by a terrified little girl, rescuers race to the wreckage of a giant inflatable maze after a gust of wind sent it on a flight of death.

Screams rang out across a crowded park as the main attraction on a family day out, like a bouncy castle but half the size of a football pitch and 17 feet high, tore free from its moorings.

Forty people who had been queuing to enter tried to hold it down, but were thrown off and fell as it rose into the air. Inside, more than 30 visitors were hurled helplessly against each other.

Two women, aged 38 and 68, fell to their deaths as the inflatable careered across the park before smashing into a CCTV post which brought it down.

Another 14 people were taken to hospital where a three year-old-girl was critically ill.

The inflatable Dreamscape is made up of inerconnecting rooms and emergency workers struggled to find the injured inside.

People hacked at the material with car and door keys as desperate parents scrambled over it to find their children.

The horrific incident happened in Riverside Park, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, just a day after Dreamspace had been opened to the public there as part of a tour marking the tenth anniversary of its construction.

Police were questioning its creator, London artist Maurice Agis, 74 - who was among the onlookers who tried to stop the disaster.

His girlfriend Paloma Brotons wept as she said the wind had not seemed strong, and that tens of thousands of people had safely been inside Dreamspace all over Britain and Europe.

Visitors paying £5 a ticket have to take off their shoes and wear a cape as they wander around the multicoloured inflatable listening to 'New Age' music. There is even wheelchair access for the disabled.

It is supposed to be a peaceful experience but suddenly, the laughter turned to screams.

'The whole thing took about a minute'

Quantity surveyor Richard Gordon, 22, said: "I was standing next to it when I heard a 'snap' sound as the holding pegs were ripped out of the ground.

"I could hear people inside screaming as it flipped on its side, went into the air and started gaining speed.

"At least three industrial-type blowers were pumping air into it when it took off, but I think a gust of wind must have got under it.

"I reckon there were at least 25 adults and children inside as it took off.

"Myself and about another 40 guys tried to grab hold to try to stop it flying away. But it was going with such force it just dragged us along and we couldn't stop it.

"It smashed into a CCTV pole in the middle of the park but it then broke loose and hit the ground.

"Loads of people ran towards it and started trying to get the trapped out by ripping the material open. The whole thing took about a minute. It was awful to see."

Youth worker Claire Fairnington, 22, who was with her boyfriend, said: 'I heard the moorings snap and the next thing I knew it was taking off.

"I wasn't sure if that was supposed to happen - but then I heard screaming in the air and realised it was something really bad.

"The screams continued for about another 15 minutes after it landed. If it hadn't snagged on the pole then I'm sure this thing would have ended up in the river."