"Police are carrying out forensic tests on the ropes and anchor pins of an inflatable sculpture which blew 30ft in the air killing two people [...] Two women died and 13 people were hurt when the "Dreamscape" artwork was lifted into the air at Riverside Park, Chester-le-Street, Co Durham on Sunday. "
Very strange... The artwork has certainly been around for a while without problems. I know it was in London at one time, and I would quite have liked to see it (sounds fun).
Victoria J.
-------------------- Post accompanied by maniacal laughter. Posts: 577 | From: London, UK | Registered: Sep 2005
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-------------------- Brosandi. Hendumst í hringi Höldumst í hendur Allur heimurinn óskýr Nema þú stendur Posts: 694 | From: York, UK | Registered: Jul 2006
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I work in Chester, as you can imagine this has been the main topic of conversation today - everyone is shocked by what has happened. The weather yesterday was hot, so the park was packed, but the wind was hardly very strong - the odd breeze rather than stiff gusts, so the cause could well be that the ropes were tampered with.
-------------------- "You learn something new every day if you're not careful" - Wilf Lunn Posts: 893 | From: Durham City, England | Registered: Aug 2005
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I hope it was sabotage in a way - if it was just an accident then it is going to be so much harder to have this sort of public art. And I love this sort of thing, that is so accessible for both children and adults.
ETA : Pikey Queen - I came too look at what people here thought of it, and it made my day to be the one to post it. I'm very smug now - my own thread.
Victoria J.
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What I want to know is how could an inflatable anything, no matter what the size, could crush and kill a human being. Isn't helium pretty light? Likewise, air's pretty light stuff, too.
- Pseudo "whole lotta hot air" Croat
-------------------- "At all events, people who deny the influence of smaller nations should remember that the Croats have the rest of us by the throats." - Norman Davies, Europe: A History
God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts. Posts: 4578 | From: Sunrise, FL | Registered: Apr 2002
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The air might be light, but the structure containing the air, apparently, was not.
-------------------- "When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty."--George Bernard Shaw Posts: 19266 | From: Nashville, TN | Registered: Jun 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Pseudo_Croat: What I want to know is how could an inflatable anything, no matter what the size, could crush and kill a human being.
On the OP, go to the BBC (first) link and watch the video. The people killed (and a number of others) were inside it (it has an internal maze), presumably those killed were either near the outside when it hit the ground, or collided with other occupants.
Posts: 135 | From: UK | Registered: Jan 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Pseudo_Croat: What I want to know is how could an inflatable anything, no matter what the size, could crush and kill a human being. Isn't helium pretty light?
It's the difference between mass and weight. It may weigh nothing, but it still has a lot of mass (and surface area).
ETA: The ones who died, fell.
-------------------- And now for something completely different... Posts: 4164 | From: Alabama | Registered: Oct 2005
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The inflatable was full of people when it landed. The crush injuries came from the weight of the people inside as well as the inflatable.
-------------------- I tried to get in touch with my inner child, but she isn't allowed to talk to strangers. Posts: 674 | From: Scotland | Registered: May 2004
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You can see the impact of some of the bodies inside, tumbling down as the thing lifts up in the air, on the mobile phone video. I can't begin to imagine the terror going through people's minds inside that thing.
-------------------- Silence should never under any circumstances be construed as agreement. A lot of the time, it's simply a reflection that someone just said something so stupid that no response could possibly do it justice. - Ramblin' Dave Posts: 8528 | From: Nottingham, England | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:What I want to know is how could an inflatable anything, no matter what the size, could crush and kill a human being. Isn't helium pretty light? Likewise, air's pretty light stuff, too.
Heard of the Hindenburg?
Contrary to common belief, few perished in the fire, most died either from jumping to avoid the fire or by getting crushed by the structure as it descended.
-------------------- /Troberg Posts: 4360 | From: Borlänge, Sweden | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Pseudo_Croat: What I want to know is how could an inflatable anything, no matter what the size, could crush and kill a human being. Isn't helium pretty light? Likewise, air's pretty light stuff, too.
- Pseudo "whole lotta hot air" Croat
They weren't crushed, it rose into the air, they fell out and were killed - according to this :
They also now seem to think that heat was more of a problem than wind. Whether or not ropes may have been cut, what allowed it to rise was the hot air inside. It acted like a hot air ballon. It certainly has been unusually hot here, so I can see how it might not have been designed for such weather.
In a linked report on the little girl who is still in hospital it is now being referred to as "the Co Durham inflatable artwork tragedy."
Victoria J.
-------------------- Post accompanied by maniacal laughter. Posts: 577 | From: London, UK | Registered: Sep 2005
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I read one article that said something like "extra ropes were added for the heat." It didn't sound like it had been analyzed by a structural engineer for tie-down v. uplift, and from looking at the video this thing got some major lift. It also didn't seem to have enough exits - for a large structure like this it seems it would have to meet some sort of code.
-------------------- No man has a right in America to treat any other man "tolerantly" for tolerance is the assumption of superiority. -Wendell L. Willkie Posts: 3833 | From: Virginia | Registered: Oct 2001
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I've been in something similar to this, every year here at the International Riverside Festival there's a smaller version in the same spot every year. Last year I got curious and paid a fiver to get in. It was... weird. It was really warm inside, quite quiet but lso scary. Am definately not a fan of mazes, or enclosed spaces so I didn't spend long in it. It only seemed to have one entrance/ exit.
I live rather close to Co Durham (since my postal district was dissolved, apparently I live in it) and it's been all over the news.
Needless to say I'm off bouncy castles for a while...
-------------------- I got in a fight one time with a really big guy, and he said, "I'm going to mop the floor with your face." I said, "You'll be sorry." He said, "Oh, yeah? Why?" I said, "Well, you won't be able to get into the corners very well" Posts: 49 | From: Teesside, UK | Registered: Jul 2006
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-------------------- Silence should never under any circumstances be construed as agreement. A lot of the time, it's simply a reflection that someone just said something so stupid that no response could possibly do it justice. - Ramblin' Dave Posts: 8528 | From: Nottingham, England | Registered: Feb 2000
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Question: Why would they be charged with manslaughter when it seems to be an accident? The same thing happened to John Landis during that twilight xone film
-------------------- "High-Five!" - Borat Posts: 1056 | From: Racine, WI | Registered: Jun 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Freshman: Question: Why would they be charged with manslaughter when it seems to be an accident?
Perhaps because the police believe the accident could and should have been foreseen, but the artist cared not a whit about the potential danger?
Pogue
-------------------- Let's drink to the causes in your life: Your family, your friends, the union, your wife. Posts: 11325 | From: Kentucky | Registered: Nov 2000
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