Sarah Guyard slipped from her safety wire during the final moments of a performance of Ka and plunged into the pit in front of the stage at the MGM Grand.
“Initially a lot of people in the audience thought it was part of the choreographed fight,” audience member Dan Mosqueda told the Las Vegas Weekly of the accident.
“But you could hear screaming, then groaning, and we could hear a female artist crying from the stage.”
The 31-year old Guyard had over 20 years experience as an acrobat and had been with the production of Ka since 2006.
It is the first time that anyone has died in the company’s 30-year history.
“I am heartbroken,” Cirque Du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte said in a statement on Sunday.
“I wish to extend my sincerest sympathies to the family.”
Photo: Getty.
