MEXICO CITY (AP) — A woman performing in the picturesque “Voladores” ritual has died after falling from the 30-yard (meter) high pole, authorities in the central Mexico state of Puebla confirmed Sunday.
The municipal government in the city of Huauchinango said it was cancelling the remaining festivities in a sign of mourning.
The performers were apparently from a troupe of mainly female “voladores.” They had been performing at the city’s Festival of Flowers when the accident occurred Saturday night.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
The voladores, or flyers in English, are generally four performers who climb up the pole and tie themselves to ropes twisted around the pole; they then leap outwards and descend through the air, moving in circles as the rope unwinds.
While the best-known voladores are from Papantla, in the neighboring state of Veracruz, the act, which originated as a spiritual observance, is also performed in Puebla.
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