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Kids Watch as Clown Is
Crushed to Death
AP DUBLIN, Ireland (Aug. 29) - A hot-air balloon
caught fire during a circus stunt, killing a clown
acrobat as dozens of children watched, police said
Tuesday.
The accident happened Monday night as the Royal
Russian Circus was performing in Scariff, County
Clare, a village in western Ireland. About 100 people
were in the audience, most of them children. Police
said the clown was a 26-year-old man from Belarus but
didn't release his name.
Witnesses said the man, dressed in a clown outfit,
was hanging from a cage suspended by ropes and a
hot-air balloon inside the canvas tent. When the
balloon exploded in flames, the cage fell on top of
the man.
The man's wife, who was also part of the act,
suffered a broken arm, police said.
"We were all sitting down and they were doing
their act. They were up fairly high, but they were
doing fine. Next thing, he was down on the
ground," said audience member Hazel Harrington.
She said many people in the audience initially
thought the falling cage was part of the act.
About a half-dozen circuses, employing mostly Eastern
European performers, tour Ireland each summer.
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