Acrobat Falls to Death Prior to Green Day’s Performance at Spanish Festival
Prior to Green Day's headlining slot at the Mad Cool Festival in Madrid, Spain, last night, an acrobat named Pedro died when he fell during his performance. Both the band and the festival have come under fire for going on with the festival as planned.
The Mirror reports that the harness that the acrobat, who has been identified as "Pedro," was wearing snapped and he fell approximately 100 feet. Police and emergency personnel were unsuccessful in their attempt to revive him. The decision was made to continue the festival, with the organizers saying in a statement afterwards that it was done "for security reasons," and the start of Green Day's set was delayed 30 minutes.
"We send our most sincere condolences to his family," the statement continued. "Tomorrow, Saturday 8th, during the festival we will pay tribute to the artist."
Following the show, the band tweeted that they were unaware of what had happened until after they had finished playing. "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. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends."
Several fans in attendance took exception to the idea of Green Day performing after the tragedy. "I watched the guy fall and can't believe no one said anything. I will never return to Mad Cool or Green Day," one man tweeted. Another replied to the band's tweet with "Not Mad Cool for you to just keep playing. Extremely disrespectful."
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