Cirque du Soleil Performer Died of Blunt Force Trauma, Rules Coroner
According to Las Vegas affiliate KTNV, the Clark County Coroner's Office ruled that Sarah "Sassoon" Guillot-Guyard died as the result of multiple blunt force trauma.
The coroner determined the death was accidental, the result of the 31-year-old performer slipping out of her safety wires and plunging more than 100-feet to the ground during the show's closing "Final Battle" number.
In the wake of the June 29 accident, Cirque officials closed the show at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino and the Montreal-based entertainment company's founder, Guy Laliberté, issued a statement on Cirque's Facebook page saying he was "heartbroken" over Guillot-Guyard's passing and that he and the entire Cirque family were "devastated by the 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. Our focus now is to support each other as a family," he wrote, while requesting the media respect the company's privacy.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched an investigation into what went wrong that's expected to take at least six months.
A candlelight vigil to honor Sarah's memory is scheduled to take place Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. at personal training center Studio 222 in Las Vegas.
Sassoon's death marks the first time a Cirque aerialist has been killed doing the kinds of seamless acrobatic feats that wow anyone who's ever attended one of Laliberté's circus extravangazas, be it in Vegas or any number of Cirque shows that criss-cross the globe.
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