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Toddler's tragic death after falling from carnival ride

A toddler has died after she was thrown from a 10-metre high carnival ride in Mexico, marking a tragic end to a family holiday.

Three-year-old Jenessy ‘Sophia’ Villalpando was on the ride next to her mother in Penjamo, northwest of Mexico City, on Monday last week when she slipped and was flung from her seat.

The little girl, from Waterloo in Iowa, US, hit the ground and was rushed to hospital suffering major head trauma, according to local reports.

Jenessy 'Sophia' Villalpando was thrown from a carnival ride in Mexico.
Three-year-old Jenessy ‘Sophia’ Villalpando died after she was thrown from a 10-metre high carnival ride in Mexico. Source: GoFundMe

She was placed in an induced coma but died while doctors were awaiting her MRI scan results.

The girl’s family said Sophia was not buckled in securely, Mexican newspaper el Mercurio reported.

The Twister amusement ride the three-year-old was on carries an age restriction of 10 years or older, an initial investigation by Mexico’s Elements of State Civil Protection agency found.

The ride operators also reportedly did not have permission to operate at the fair.

Sophia's family are fundraising to bring her body home.
The little girl’s family hope to raise enough funds to bring her body home, but say no amount of money can bring her back. Source: Villalpando family

The family has already raised more than $7000 from a GoFundMe page to cover some of the costs of transporting Sophia’s body back home from Mexico and towards her princess-themed funeral.

However, they set the fundraising goal at just $1, saying “no amount of money can bring Sophia back to us”.

“Our family is in complete shock, confused, and heartbroken,” they wrote on their fundraising page.

“Sophia was so full of life, she was the family sunshine, the one who could make us all forget about our problems with her cheerful personality. All we want is to bring our little Angel home.”

The investigation into the little girl’s death is ongoing.