Home / World / English News / Winnipeg mayor to look at safety regs after kids injured in Fort Gibraltar accident – Winnipeg

Winnipeg mayor to look at safety regs after kids injured in Fort Gibraltar accident – Winnipeg

Winnipeg’s mayor says he intends to get answers to questions about safety inspections at Fort Gibraltar, where 17 children and one adult from St. John’s-Ravenscourt School were injured Wednesday, when an elevated platform collapsed and fell almost 20 feet.

Fort Gibraltar, a replica of a historic North West Company fur trading outpost in Whittier Park, is owned by the city but leased by Festival du Voyageur.

Mayor Scott Gillingham told 680 CJOB’s The Start that he feels for those affected by the accident and intends to look into the facility, which appears to have undergone two upgrades one in 2004 and another in 2013 — but only one that resulted in a mandatory inspection.


Story continues below advertisement

“I haven’t had a chance to speak to anybody within the department, but that’s certainly a question I’ll be asking today — getting the information as to the inspections and what certainties are in place to make sure that all city assets and facilities are safe,” Gillingham said.

“The public should have certainty, we should have certainty, that all of our public facilities are inspected on a regular basis and are safe for the public to use.”

Although none of the students suffered fatal or life-threatening injuries, Gillingham said many are likely traumatized by their experience, and it’s important to ensure something similar doesn’t happen again.


Click to play video: 'Students fall nearly 20 feet at Fort Gibraltar in Winnipeg, 18 hospitalized'


Students fall nearly 20 feet at Fort Gibraltar in Winnipeg, 18 hospitalized


As the Grade 5 students recover from the accident, a psychologist says there are also mental injuries to consider.

When it comes to a mass trauma like this, Winnipeg’s Dr. Jo Anne Unger told The Start that people should check in with their kids.

Story continues below advertisement

“‘What are you thinking about this? What are your thoughts?’ Give them a time to just kind of talk about what’s going on for them,” Unger said.

“The reason I suggest this neutral question is we don’t want to make an assumption, or we don’t want to put our own feelings as adults and caregivers and parents onto our kids, because they may not be too worried about it … or they may have thoughts and feelings that we weren’t imagining.”

Unger said that even if your child wasn’t involved directly in the accident, it’s important to have this conversation, as news spreads quickly in this era of social media.

“It’s really important just to check in with our kids, to see how they’re receiving the information and just what’s going on in their minds.

“And also encouraging kids it’s OK to have empathy … and that’s actually a good thing, that we have this connection to other people in our community.”


Click to play video: 'Frustrated parents of student on group trip to Fort Gibraltar react to hearing about emergency'


Frustrated parents of student on group trip to Fort Gibraltar react to hearing about emergency


&copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

News Source link

Check Also

Blue Jays open 2024 MLB season against Rays

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted March 28, 2024 6:00 am 1 min read Descrease …