Trapeze artist falls to death while performing new show for first time in Cirque du Soleil

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Trapeze artist falls to death while performing new show for first time in Cirque du Soleil

2018-03-19 13:26 Last Updated At：13:26

RIP, the excellent performer, and the father, Yann Arnaud.

An aerial performer in Yann Arnaud, 38, has died in Cirque du Soleil after falling onto the stage during the show VOLTA in Tampa, Florida on Saturday night.

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Yann died from his injuries at Tampa General Hospital hours after the horrific drop.

"While he was performing the aerial straps number, long-time aerialist, Yann Arnaud, fell onto the stage," the statement from Cirque du Soleil wrote.

The said they had activated emergency procedures immediately and had sent Yann to the nearest hospital.

Before his death, he posted about to debut his 'straps duo act' with another trapezist Pawel Walczewski.

"After so much work and training and staging, our straps duo act is finally in the show tonight," Yann wrote in the caption. "It's time to go for it."

However, in the performance, Yann can be seen losing the grip on his strap and fell a onto the ground.

According to the local media, witness Ben Ritter said Yann was out cold and not moving' the minute he hit the stage. Another man said he was "was visibly struggling to keep his grip right before the fall".

Yann had worked for the company for more than 15 years so the crew in Cirque du Soleil was shocked and devastated by his death.

"Yann...was loved by all who had the chance to know him," continued the statement.

"Over the coming days and weeks, our focus will be on supporting Yann’s family and our employees, especially the VOLTA team, as we go through these difficult times together," said Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group.

"We are currently gathering more information about this tragic event. We are offering our full and transparent collaboration to the authorities as they look into the circumstances of this accident," he added and called Yann one of the most experienced artists.

The president does not think the accident was caused by equipment failure but said it is too early to determine the reason.

"For me, one accident like this is too many," he said.

The Tampa Police and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration will start their own investigations.

Arnaud is a father of two young daughters with his wife Inna Gorelova. He was from Champigny-sur-Marne, France and was living in Miami, Florida at the time he performed.

His death was the second incident since Cirque du Soleil has opened for 34-year. The first accident happened in 2009 while 24-year-old Oleksandr Zhurov, from Ukraine, was killed after he fell off a Russian swing.

Photos of South Korea's last circus

ANSAN, South Korea (AP) — The century-old Dongchoon Circus Troupe is the last circus in South Korea.

Such entertainments peaked before most South Korean homes had televisions. They had animal acts, magic shows, acrobatic performances and singing and acting on stage. Then the audiences faded, and the performers left the circuses to work in TV and film.

Now there is just Dongchoon and its acrobats, who are all Chinese.

Park Sae-hwan, the head of the circus, said in a recent Associated Press interview, that he feels a heavy responsibility “because if Dongchoon stops, our country’s circus, one genre in our performing arts, will disappear. That’s the problem.”

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.