Nine performers hurt in circus accident

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) —PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Authorities are trying to determine what caused a support frame to collapse during an aerial hair-hanging stunt during a circus performance, sending eight acrobats crashing to the ground.

Nine performers were seriously hurt during Sunday's performance by Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, including a dancer below. Several others also suffered less serious injuries.

The accident was reported about 45 minutes into the circus' 11 a.m. Legends show. It was witnessed by an audience of about 3,900, many of them children.

Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros., said the accident happened during an act in which eight performers hang "like a human chandelier" using their hair.

He said the metal-frame apparatus from which the performers were hanging came free from the metal truss to which it was connected. The eight women fell 25 to 40 feet, landing on the dancer below.

Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare said officials and inspectors haven't yet determined what caused the accident. He said none of the injuries appears to be life-threatening.

Rhode Island Hospital in Providence admitted 11 patients with varying injuries, including one in critical condition, spokeswoman Jill Reuter said.

Video taken by audience members shows a curtain dropping to reveal several performers hanging from an apparatus suspended from above. Seconds later, as they begin to perform, the women fall, and the metal apparatus lands on them.

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