Acrobat plunges 33m to his death in box at music festival in Spain
LONDON: Tributes have poured in for the acrobat who plunged to his death in front of thousands at a Spanish rock festival.
UK-based Pedro Aunion Monroy was described by his friends as a “beautiful person inside and out” whose “energy, humour, altruism and smile will be missed by so many”.
The 42-year-old had been performing at the Mad Cool Festival in Madrid when he fell from a height of around 33m.
The Spaniard, who appeared to be wearing a harness, was inside a box hanging from a crane.
His family said they were “devastated,” adding that Monroy had been “doing what he liked most, a show at Mad Cool”.
Heartbroken friends and fans took to social media to pay tribute to the acrobat.
Paramedics attempted to save him, but he died at the scene.
According to his Facebook profile, the former actor trained at the the Royal Conservatory of Dance in Madrid and had lived in Brighton for two years.
Monroy, who also worked as a massage therapist at the Grand Hotel Brighton, was director of In Fact, a theatre company in south London.
His performance was scheduled in a half-hour slot between British indie band Alt J and US punk rock band Green Day, who were due on stage at 11.25pm.
Witnesses described the chilling sight of the acrobat plummeting to the floor, while pictures posted on social media showed paramedics fighting to save him.
Despite the incident, Green Day’s performance went ahead as planned.
Spectators and fans took to social media to slam the decision of the festival organisers as “shameful”. The band later indicated they had been unaware of the severity of the incident.
Organisers of the Mad Cool festival defended their decision to carry on with the first performance.