A Cirque du Soleil performer died Saturday after an accident during a performance of the show "Ka" at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, authorities announced Sunday.
Sarah Guyard-Guillot, 31, was pronounced dead shortly before midnight Saturday, according to the Clark County Coroner's Office. A cause of death has yet to be determined.
Audience members told the Las Vegas Sun that a performer suspended by a wire in the show’s final scene dropped a distance of nearly 50 feet into a pit below the stage.
“Initially, a lot of people in the audience thought it was part of the choreographed fight. But you could hear screaming, then groaning, and we could hear a female artist crying from the stage,” Dan Mosqueda, who was attending the show with his family, told the Sun.
The newspaper also reported that Guyard-Guillot was a mother of two young children and had spent 22 years as an acrobatic performer.
"I am heartbroken. I wish to extend my sincerest sympathies to the family. We are all completely devasted with this news. Sassoon was an artist with the original cast of KÀ since 2006 and has been an integral part of our Cirque du Soleil tight family. We are reminded, with great humility and respect, how extraordinary our artists are each and every night,” Cirque du Soleil said in a statement released Sunday.
Performances of "Ka" have been indefinitely suspended, the company announced.
