Eight circus performers fell to the ground on Sunday during the live performance of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Providence, Rhode Island. The acrobats, all of them are women and doing the stunt at 25 to 40 feet above, landed on a female dancer directly below them. Some members of the audience initially thought it was only part of the show, but an announcement was made and the show was immediately stopped.
The freak accident happened shortly after the curtain was dropped, approximately 45 minutes after the 11 am performance at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, where all the eight performers were hanging like a human chandelier using their hair. As described on the official website of Ringling Bros., the act is part of the “Medeiros Troupe Hair Hang and Motorcycle High Wire Act” and was presented as Legends.
Witness said the platform where the performers hung suddenly malfunction and was separated from the metal truss it was attached. Right after the incident, the audience screamed and the unnamed victims received immediate medical attention. A total of 11 people were brought to Rhode Island Hospital. Despite having various injuries, none of them are in life-threatening condition.
“Everybody’s conscious. Everybody’s doing well. We ask everybody to pray for the girls,” legends tour general manager Roman Garcia said during a press conference after the incident. Ringling Bros. spokesman Steve Payne said the failed platform has been used many times every week since February when the show was launched. However, he emphasized that it is being inspected regularly and that safety of all the performers and spectators is being seriously taking care of.
Field Entertainment Inc., the parent company of Ringling Bros., announced on their official website the cancellation of the succeeding shows on May 4 (3pm and 7pm) and on May 5 (10:30 am) due to the accident. All ticket buyers for the shows can make a refund on the origin of purchase. Meanwhile, tickets bought via Ticketmaster will be automatically refunded.
As of posting, the cause of the accident remains unknown, but authorities including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are now conducting a thorough investigation.
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