Crime & Safety
Botched Ringling Bros. Stunt: 'We Just Heard the Girls Scream'
Nine performers were seriously hurt during a during a "human chandelier" stunt in Providence on Sunday.
The audience for a Ringling Bros. performance in Providence Sunday described the horrifying moment when eight acrobats fell from as high as 40 feet during a botched stunt.
"Everyone was freaking out," said 14-year-old Sydney Bragg, of North Kingstown. "We heard this huge clatter and then we just heard the girls scream."
Three of the performers were critically injured, according to the Boston Herald. All were expected to survive. In addition to the eight acrobats, a performer on the ground was hurt.The mishap occurred during a "human chandelier" stunt where the performers hang from their hair from a suspended apparatus. Authorities said a clamp snapped and sent the women plummeting to the ground.
Below is a list of the injured performers and their condition:
- Dayana Costa (critical)
- Julissa Segrera (critical)
- Stefany Neves (critical)
- Viktoriya Medeiros (serious)
- Viktorila Liakhova (serious)
- Samantha Pitard (good)
- Svitlana Balanicheva (good)
- Widny Nevas (good)
Three other victims had not yet been identified as of Monday morning.
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"They've used this act many times," Pare told WPRO-AM. "Unfortunately this particular clamp failed ... 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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