"9 badly hurt in accident at Providence circus; Precarious ‘hair hang’ fails; audience shaken" by Anne Steele, Gal Tziperman Lotan and Jeremy C. Fox | Globe Correspondents May 04, 2014
PROVIDENCE — A dramatic rigging collapse at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Sunday sent eight aerialists plummeting to the ground as families watched in stunned confusion.
All eight — who had been hanging by their hair from an umbrella-shaped rigging — were seriously injured, suffering broken bones, head injuries, and lacerations in the 30-foot fall, officials said. A performer standing below was also seriously hurt.
“There were just girls laying on the floor,” said Eddie Brundage of Wareham, Mass., who was with his wife and daughters, ages 3 and 4. “We took our kids right out; we didn’t want them to see.”
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My abiding memory of circuses is the day my dad was to take us kids and he showed up drunk and told us we were not going because the camel died. I have never been to one since.
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Circus replacing equipment after aerialists’ plunge
The show must go on.
UPDATE: Injured circus acrobats improve
