Cirque du Soleil performer falls to his death during show in Tampa Bay

Cirque du Soleil performer dies Yann Arnaud died in Tampa, Florida, during a performance on Saturday

Cirque du Soleil is mourning the loss of one of their aerial performers, who passed away following an incident at a show in Tampa Bay, Florida, Saturday night.

Yann Arnaud, a seasoned acrobat, was performing an aerial straps number during the VOLTA show, when he plummeted onto the stage.

Emergency responders arrived and Arnaud was transported to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Arnaud, a 38-year-old father of two, had been performing with the circus troupe for 15 years prior to the fatal accident.

Before that, he performed at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, and as an aerialist at Disneyland Paris.

"He was a great guy - an athlete, an amazing performer," Cirque du Soleil President and CEO Daniel Lamarre told CTV Montreal. "A typical guy who loved to travel the world with the Cirque."

"Everybody is sad, everybody is shaken," he said.

Cirque du Soleil officials will be cooperating with local authorities as they investigate the event. The company has also launched an internal inquiry to determine the exact circumstances of the accident.

The aerial straps used in the act have never been at the center of a critical accident like this one, Lamarre explained.

"That's why we're so caught by surprise right now, and so shaken - because it's a first for us," he said.

The two last Tampa Bay performances of VOLTA were cancelled in light of Arnaud's passing. They have been held in Tampa since February.

Lamarre said that three psychologists are currently on-site in Florida to consult with cast and crew and help them cope with the loss. As a team, he explained, the Cirque du Soleil troupe will decide on an appropriate date to stage their next performance.

"After a drama like this, I want to make sure that everybody is at ease to come back to work," Lamarre said. "There will be no pressure from us to go back too quickly onstage."

Not the first fatality at Cirque du Soleil

In the 34 years since its inception, there have been at least three separate, fatal accidents during Cirque du Soleil productions or rehearsals - still "too much," according to Lamarre.

He said Cirque du Soleil is widely recognized within the circus industry for having rigorous safety measures - but in light of Arnaud's death, Lamarre conceded that there are always ways to improve.

October 2009, Montreal

Oleksandr (Sacha) Zhurov, a Cirque du Soleil performer, fell off a trampoline during a training session in Montreal. The 24-year-old was doing "general training exercises" at the time of the incident. He succumbed to his injuries in a Montreal hospital the following day.

July 2013, Las Vegas

Sarah Guyard-Guillot, 31-year old Paris born mother of two, was performing in Cirque du Soleil's "Ka" at the M-G-M Grand in Las Vegas Saturday when she fell from a height of about 29 metres.

Witnesses say she was being hoisted up the side of the stage when she appeared to slip out of her safety wire and plummet to an open pit below the stage.

Initially, the audience thought the fall was part of the show.

Guyard-Guillot had been with the original cast of "Ka" since 2006, and had been an acrobatic performer for over 20 years.

Nevada regulators fined the troupe $25,235 after Guillot-Guyard's fall. It was later established that her safety harness became unattached after scraping against equipment.

November 2016, San Francisco

A technician with the Cirque du Soleil "Luzia" show who died after being hit in the head by an aerial lift Tuesday turned out to be the son of one of the founders of the show.

Officials confirmed that 42-year-old Olivier Rochette of Quebec died Tuesday night in San Francisco. His father, Gilles Ste-Croix, was one of the founders of Cirque du Soleil.

Brushes with death

November 2013, Las Vegas

A Cirque du Soleil performer was injured in a fall from the 12 metre (40-feet) high Wheel of Death at a performance of the Zarkana show at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

The performer was injured when he slipped and fell during the show in front of a large audience, but was released from hospital days later.

November 2016, Australia

Three time Olympian and gold-medal winner Lisa Skinner, 35, plummeted to the ground during an aerial performance of Cirque du Soleil's "Kooza" in Brisbane, Australia.

She apparently lost her grip on the aerial hoop used as part of the act, and dropped 16 feet to the ground - landing on her back. However, she was alert and conscious when transported away in a neck brace by paramedics.

Skinner took up aerial acrobatics after retiring from gymnastics.