Death of Cirque du Soleil Performer Was Accidental, Officials Say

Associated Press A photograph of the Cirque du Soleil performer Sarah Guillot-Guyard, who was killed in an accident at a performance.

The death of a Cirque du Soleil performer at a show in Las Vegas has been ruled an accident, the local authorities said.

The Clark County Office of Coroner/Medical Examiner said in a statement that the performer, Sarah Guillot-Guyard, died on Saturday night “from multiple blunt force trauma suffered when she fell approximately 90 feet.”

Tat distance was considerably more than initially reported by witnesses at the performance of the Cirque du Soleil show “Ka,” which is presented at the MGM Grand hotel. They said that they saw Ms. Guillot-Guyard fall about 50 feet during the show’s closing number, into a pit that audience members could not see.

Ms. Guillot-Guyard, 31, was a citizen of France and a resident of Las Vegas. She had trained as an acrobat for 22 years and had two children. Other reports gave her name as Sarah Guyard-Guillot.

After the announcement of her death, Guy Laliberté, the founder of Cirque du Soleil, said in a statement that he was “heartbroken,” adding that she was “an artist with the original cast of ‘Ka’ since 2006 and has been an integral part of our Cirque du Soleil tight family.” Performances of “Ka” have been suspended since the accident.

Clark County officials said in their statement that Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration was investigating the! accident, an inquiry which could take up to six months to complete.