Circus act misses target

Paris - A William Tell-type circus act went horribly wrong when a performer trying to shoot an apple off his wife's head with…

Paris - A William Tell-type circus act went horribly wrong when a performer trying to shoot an apple off his wife's head with a crossbow hit her under the eye instead.

The woman, whose skull was pierced by the arrow, was in serious condition in hospital after the incident involving the Grey Arrow husband-and-wife team in front of 5,000 spectators at the World Circus Festival on Sunday.

"It's incomprehensible. They've got that routine down to the nearest thousandth of a millimetre," said Mr Gilbert Edelstein, director of the Pinder-Jean Richard circus, yesterday. "There's a serious risk because the arrow pierced her skull. She can't be operated on for another week, so it's especially important that she does not develop an infection," said Mr Edelstein.