PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A safety official says nine acrobats have been seriously injured after falling from an aerial platform during a Rhode Island circus.
Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare (PAH'-ree) commissioner says the injuries sustained in Sunday's accident at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus were not life-threatening. He says the performers fell 25 to 40 feet.
Pare says officials and inspectors at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence have not yet determined how the accident occurred.
He says, "Obviously, something went wrong."
The Dunkin' Donuts Center says two shows scheduled for later Sunday and two others Monday are on hold.
Othello Smith tells the Providence Journal that the performers were doing an aerial act, spinning on ropes or cables, and dropped.