Arabic version: تحقيق هيلكريست يطلب أدلة من خبير أميركي في الدوامات الترابية

According to ABC News, the coronial inquest into the deaths of six children in the Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle tragedy is expected to seek evidence from US dust devil researcher Dr Ralph Lorenz. The inquest, which began in Devonport last month, is due to resume in November and February.

At a case management hearing in Hobart, counsel assisting the coroner Maree Norton SC said she was looking to engage Dr Lorenz, a planetary scientist and aerospace engineer, to provide evidence about the nature of dust devils. Dr Lorenz has studied dust devils for more than two decades, including pressure and wind fields in terrestrial settings and their effects on NASA spacecraft on Mars.

Ms Norton said he had not yet been formally engaged, but preliminary discussions indicated he could give an opinion on pressure drops, the dust devil vortex and the interaction between a dust devil and the jumping castle structure. Coroner Olivia McTaggart said his expertise was likely to assist her on critical matters concerning how the deaths occurred.

Six children — Addison Stewart, Chace Harrison, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt and Zane Mellor — died when a freak wind gust, or dust devil, lifted a jumping castle across the school oval during an end-of-year celebration on December 16, 2021. Three classmates were seriously injured.

Further structural engineering testing involving reinflating the jumping castle has been postponed until Dr Lorenz’s opinion is received, as it could affect the testing method. The next hearing block begins in Devonport on Tuesday, November 3, with evidence expected from detective Kim Steven, an inflatable-device worker, an IT expert and medical witnesses.