circus accident News

Acrobats Hurt in Rhode Island Circus Accident Reach $52.5M Settlement

Eight acrobats severely injured when the rigging suspending them by their hair plummeted to the floor during a circus performance in Rhode Island in 2014 have reached a $52.5 million settlement with the ownership and management of the arena where …

Florida Circus Act Gone Wrong: 5 Tightrope Walkers Injured by 30 Foot Fall

It was supposed to be the headline act for Circus Sarasota: a high-wire pyramid some 30 feet in the air. But during practice Wednesday – two days before the show’s opening – an accident befell the eight performers. According to …

Circus Returns to Rhode Island Year After Hair-Hanging Fall

The last time Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus performed in Rhode Island, eight acrobats suspended by their hair plummeted to the ground before a crowd of thousands. A single metal clip that held them 20 feet aloft had …

Ringling Bros. Disputes OSHA Citation for Hair-Hanging Accident in R.I.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has contested a citation it received from federal regulators for an accident that sent eight hair-hanging acrobats plummeting to the ground during a live performance, severely injuring most of them. Stephen Payne, a …

Circus Cited for Hair-Hanging Stunt in Rhode Island That Injured 9

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus misused a key rigging component in a hair-hanging stunt, causing a fall that seriously injured eight acrobats from the U.S., Brazil, Bulgaria and Ukraine, federal workplace safety regulators said Tuesday. The Occupational Safety …

Acrobats Injured in R.I. Circus Crash Hire Law Firm

Seven of the eight hair-hanging circus acrobats who fell to the floor during a “human chandelier” stunt in the U.S. last month have hired a law firm to represent them, the firm announced Monday. The women were injured during a …

Authorities Say Clamp Snapped in R.I. Aerial Circus Accident

Investigators looking into why eight circus acrobats plummeted to the ground during an aerial hair-hanging stunt in Providence, R.I., have found that a clamp snapped, a public safety official said Monday. “We have identified a clamp that snapped that held …