A three-year-old girl has died after falling from a bouncy castle that was blown into the air in southern China.

She was playing in the inflatable castle outside a supermarket when a freak gale blew it away, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The girl was seriously injured after falling from it and died in hospital, the agency said.

It added unverified surveillance footage appeared to show the bouncy castle being swept up in five seconds. A woman tried to grab its edge but failed to stop the flight.

It quoted Li Zhongji of the Tianyang county’s work safety bureau as saying the castle was an unlicensed business.

A county government official on duty in the Guangxi region confirmed the accident took place on Thursday evening.

AP contributed to this report