Five children have been killed and several were seriously injured after a bouncy castle was blown into the air in an Australian primary school at an end-of-term party on Thursday.

All of those dead are understood to be aged between 10 and 12. 

Two victims have been identified, according to reports. Zane, a pupil from Hillcrest Primary School on the island of Tasmania, was named by friends and family who praised him as a “beautiful, caring, gentle soul” following his death during end-of-term celebrations ahead of the Christmas holidays.

Addison, also believed to be a pupil in Year 6, was also identified by family who described her as “a sweet, kind, old soul” in online tributes.

Officers said four children are in a critical condition, and one in a serious condition, after they fell from a height of about 33ft (10m) from the bouncy castle on to the school sports field during a party around 10am on Thursday at a primary school in Devonport, a city on Tasmania’s north coast.

Images from national broadcaster ABC showed blue tarpaulins hanging from trees near a ditch where the bouncy castle came to land, with police officers in tears nearby.