Russian trapeze artist dies during act

Two investigations were launched by the Garda and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) into the death of a 26-year-old Russian trapeze artist in Scarriff on Monday night.

The death of Vitaly Kharapavitski was witnessed by in excess of 300 people - more than half of them children - at the Royal Russian Circus performance in the east Clare village.

He died during a mid-air routine with his 23-year-old wife, Sasha. The act went wrong after a line snapped and a metal cage and steel ball collapsed on him, crushing his head on impact.

Local man Patrick Doyle was ringside with two of his children, Jane (8) and Keith (4), when the tragedy occurred. He said: "It was an awful thing and it was lucky that it didn't cause two deaths, because the man's wife was thrown clear of everything crashing down."

Mr Doyle said the trapeze artist was lying across the bar of a metal cage six metres (20ft) in the air with his head and arms protruding before a rope snapped, resulting in the large steel ball overhead and the metal cage crashing down on him.

Yesterday local politicians Sen Timmy Dooley (FF) and Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) called on the HSE to make counsellors available to the children in the community. Cllr Cooney said: "Scarriff is a small, rural parish and nothing like this has ever happened here. It is an awful tragedy and is very distressing for the children who witnessed the man's death."

Schoolteacher Éamon Giblin called the emergency services. He was seated in the front row with his 17-month-old daughter. "When the man crashed to the floor with the metal basket on top, everyone shrieked and gasped, and for a few seconds, you were thinking 'is this part of the act?'

"Even the circus people didn't seem to realise how serious the situation was and were asking people to remain calm. Then . . . we realised how serious it was because the man was lifeless on the ground," he said.

Tom Courtney, of the Royal Russian Circus, said last night: "We are all terribly upset. The man's wife is in a bad state and we are in the middle of organising their relatives coming over from Russia."

Mr Courtney said the couple - who married in July 2005 - had been performing the routine for the past two years. He described the routine as "high risk".

"Five seconds later, the man would have been safely on the ground as part of the routine."

The circus is due to move on to Ennis for a performance tomorrow night and Mr Courtney said no decision had been made on whether the show would go ahead.

Supt Tony Kenneally said gardaí were treating the performer's death as a "tragic accident" and were carrying out an investigation into the death for a coroner's inquest.

A spokesman for the HSA confirmed yesterday that equipment had been removed from the Royal Russian Circus's big top and circus employees were being interviewed as part of its investigation.