Amusement park and playground equipment with no valid licence

The counsel argued that the Italian had met all safety standards and that the inflatable ball, in which the children were, was tied, but the wind was too strong.

A 13 year-old-boy died while his 9-year-old sister is still in the hospital in intensive care unit. She is getting better and, according to information, she is able to contact with the physicians and her family.

The mayor of Ellinikos hasn't appeared yet – He only issued a press release

Despite the fact that everyone is shocked by the tragedy occurred in Ellinikos, mayor Christos Kortzidis has made no statement about all the unanswered questions regarding the circumstances under which the owner was operating the amusement park. He only issued a press release saying:

"The company “HAPPY FUN LTD” requested on 10/10/2013 the concession of the small park at the intersection of Afroditis and Kyprou. The Municipal Council with 299/30-10-2013 decision unanimously approved the concession - lease of space requested by the company. On 11/15/2013 an agreement was signed for the lease of space between the municipality and the company. The company submitted an application with the relevant documentation for issuing a permission for the installation and operationof the amusement park in this area, but no such license was issued by the municipality”.

The shocking testimony of the father

The tragic father described to police officers what happened shortly after 4 pm on Sunday. “A foreigner put my children in the plastic ball. Suddenly a strong wind lifted the ball at a height of 10 meters and move it 10 metres away from the pool and then fell on the ground” said the father.

“We first took off my daughter. She couldn't speak at the moment but then she opened her eyes. Then I gave her to a man next to me and my wife pulled my son out of the ball. The moment we took him out, a man did CPR to him,”.

He continued saying “Then we went to the hospital and the doctors told me that my son had died due to severe injuries and my daughter was badly injured to her lungs. My wife is in shock since then and doctors gave her some pills to calm her down”.

The father blames the manager of the amusement park

The father said that the manager of the amusement park is responsible for the death of his son and the injuries caused to his daughter. He accuses him for not taking the necessary security measures and not tying the ball.

All witnesses talked about “a tornado lifting the ball in the air with the children inside it”.

The file that is formed on the case includes a document on conducting inspection and certification of the amusement installations and equipment which seems to be for Aspropyrgos area and according which the playground equipment “is appropriate for use by November 2013”.



Certification Body: We didn't approve the playgroung equipment

The certification and inspection body TÜV HELLAS (TÜV NORD) clarifies in a statement that this equipment involved in the tragic accident was not certified by TÜV HELLAS.

Commenting on the certificate document released to the media, the body states that this does not apply to the installation of Ellinikos: “Our Body  inspected and certified on May 2012 a completely different entertainment installation, in Aspropyrgos , for which the certification is no longer valid as it expired in November 2013”.