Ringling Bros Trapeze Accident Video: 9 Performers Injured in 40-Foot Fall (WATCH)
A Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus aerial stunt turned into a disaster during a Sunday morning show at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island, according to reports. Nine performers in total were injured after the acrobats fell 25 to 40 feet to the ground, and several are still in critical condition.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Legends shows features an act where acrobats hang "like a human chandelier" from their hair. Unfortunately, about 45 minutes into their 11 a.m. show, a metal clamp holding the women to the support frame snapped, sending them plummeting to the ground.
"They've used this act many times," Steven Pare, the Providence Public Safety Commissioner, told WPRO-AM. "Unfortunately this particular clamp failed. It snapped off. We have it, we're analyzing it, we're seeing why it happened to ensure it doesn't happen in the future."
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The acrobats— Dayana Costa, Juliassa Segrera, Stefany Neves, Viktoriya Medeiros, Viktorila Liakhova, Samantha Pitard, Svitlana Balanicheva and Widny Nevas— laid motionless on the ground after the initial fall. While some of the audience of 3,900 gasped in horror, others thought it was part of the show, according to The Providence Journal. The man that they fell onto stood up with his face bloodied, and that's when many circusgoers realized something had gone horribly wrong.
"Everyone was in shock," Rosa Viveiros, an eyewitness, told the Associated Press. "It was pretty overwhelming to see that."
"We thought it was part of the circus," her husband Joe said, adding that they attended with their 6-year-old grandson and 9-year-old niece.
"One of the performers was crying. It looked pretty bad," another witness, Othello Smith, told The Journal. He said he left the Dunkin' Donuts Center because he didn't want his young children to see what happened.
The circus performers were loaded onto stretchers, and one managed to put her hand up and wave to the crowd. Costa, Segrera and Neves are currently in critical condition, a Rhode Island Hospital spokeswoman said. All the performers are reportedly conscious.
The remaining circus shows for Sunday and Monday have been canceled.
