Two die after inflatable sculpture takes off

An outside view of the giant inflatable artwork

An outside view of the giant inflatable artwork

Two women died and 13 people were injured when they fell from a huge inflatable artwork after it broke its moorings and flew into the air in northern England.

Up to 30 people were inside the walk-in exhibit when a gust of wind blew it 30 feet above a park in the northeast town of Chester-le-Street.

The victims, aged 68 and 38, had been walking through the artwork with children when it took off. A three-year-old girl was seriously injured.

"All of a sudden it just started rising like a balloon," a witness told BBC television. "[It was] flinging people all over. Then it just seemed to flip over in the air." The inflatable exhibit was brought down to earth after it drifted into a pole.

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The work, called Dreamspace, is a 16-feet-high construction made out of thin plastic sheeting.

Half the size of a soccer pitch, it has walls that continuously change colour as visitors wander through its maze of corridors. The sculpture, designed by artist Maurice Agis, has been exhibited around the world.