Acrobat Dies Before Green Day’s Set at Music Festival in Spain
An acrobat died after plunging over 100 feet while performing a feat prior to Green Day‘s Friday night headlining set at Madrid, Spain’s Mad Cool Festival.
The acrobat, Pedro Aunión Monroy, was performing an aerial stunt from inside a box that was suspended from a crane at the time of the accident, the Independent reports. Although it appeared that Monroy was wearing a harness, he plunged to the ground in front of thousands of stunned festivalgoers.
Paramedics rushed to the scene, but Monroy died soon after from injuries sustained in the fall. He was 42. Video of the deadly accident can be seen here.
After only a slight delay, Green Day‘s set continued as scheduled. According to the band, they weren’t notified of Monroy’s death until after their performance.
“We just got off stage at Mad Cool Festival to disturbing news. A very brave artist named Pedro lost his life tonight in a tragic accident,” Green Day tweeted. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.”
Both Mad Cool and Green Day were accused of insensitivity for resuming the festival so soon after the acrobat’s fall. In a statement, Mad Cool organizers defended their decision to continue on despite the crowd witnessing a deadly accident.
“Mad Cool Festival regrets the terrible accident that the aerial dancer suffered during the second day of the festival. For security reasons, the festival decided to continue with its programming,” organizers wrote. “We send our most sincere condolences to all his family. Tomorrow Saturday 8, during the festival, we will render a heartfelt tribute to the artist.”