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| US acrobats injured in fall at Rhode Island circus act | US acrobats injured in fall at Rhode Island circus act |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Eleven people have been injured, one critically, after a group of female acrobats fell from an aerial platform at a circus in the US state of Rhode Island. | |
| The eight acrobats plummeted about 10m (32ft) after the scaffolding structure holding them collapsed. | |
| A circus spokesman said the performers were in the middle of a hair-hanging and motorbike high-wire act. | A circus spokesman said the performers were in the middle of a hair-hanging and motorbike high-wire act. |
| Officials say they have launched an investigation into the accident. | Officials say they have launched an investigation into the accident. |
| The accident occurred on Sunday morning during the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus show in Providence. A dancer on the ground was among those hurt. | |
| Eleven people were taken to Rhode Island Trauma Center, where a spokesperson told the BBC that one person was in a critical condition. | |
| Human chandelier | |
| The acrobats were hanging from their hair, suspended in a "human chandelier" formation when the apparatus supporting them suddenly collapsed, sending them crashing to the floor below, says the BBC's Beth McLeod in Washington. | |
| "All performers in the act received immediate medical attention and were transported to a local hospital for further care," the circus company said in a statement. | |
| One eyewitness, 14-year-old Sydney Bragg, told the Associated Press that the collapse happened 90 minutes into the show, and that she thought at first it was part of the act. | One eyewitness, 14-year-old Sydney Bragg, told the Associated Press that the collapse happened 90 minutes into the show, and that she thought at first it was part of the act. |
| "It just went crashing down. Everyone was freaking out. We heard this huge clatter and then we just heard the girls scream," she said. | "It just went crashing down. Everyone was freaking out. We heard this huge clatter and then we just heard the girls scream," she said. |
| According to the circus website, the eight performers, known as "hairialists", feature in a "larger-than-life act... spinning, hanging from hoops, and rolling down wrapped silks all while being suspended 35ft in the air by their hair alone". |