Fallen artist from circus act ‘Wheel of Death’ with knowledge in hospital: “Investigation into injury”

The circus director says the most important thing is that he is doing well. “A fellow artist is with him, so we have a short line.” According to him, there is dismay among the artists. “It’s a man we know well, he’s been with the circus for about ten years.”

The artist walked with another acrobat in a construction with a wheel on both sides. Several circus visitors let us know via Facebook that they found it scary. “The man was not secured, because then you cannot walk around in such a wheel. But they do that trick three times a day all year round.”

Where things went wrong is also a mystery to Duursma. He himself has not seen the act of this evening. “If he is approachable, hopefully we will know more soon. Maybe he became unwell or something else was going on.”

Duursma speaks of a successful evacuation of the circus tent, despite stories of panic on social media. “The protocols went into effect to get the police and the fire brigade to the tent quickly. We are very calm then, because we experience it a bit more often,” says the circus director. He does say he understands that the accident has a lot of impact on visitors. “We also get a lot of support for the artist. We pass that on to him, that’s important to him.”

Don’t walk around with nasty images

On the website of the Christmas Circus Haarlem, the organization speaks of a risk of hearing the circus. “However, we sincerely apologize for this distressing event that you may have sadly witnessed.” The circus calls on people who are very frightened to contact their doctor or victim support. ‘It is important not to keep walking around with nasty images.’

According to the message on the site of the Christmas Circus, the shows will continue as planned.