Circus elephant crushes person in New South Wales

[Gumleaf]

Thursday Dec 27 19:04 AEDT


A person has died after being crushed by a circus elephant at Yamba on the New South Wales (NSW) north coast, police say.

The Stardust Circus, with elephants Arna and Gigi among the star attractions, was due to begin its Yamba performances at 7pm (AEDT) on Friday.

It had been setting up at the Angourie Road Sports Reserve when the accident occurred on Thursday afternoon.

"It appears an elephant in being unloaded in preparation for a circus at Yamba this afternoon has fallen on a person, believed to be a man," a police spokeswoman told AAP.

An ambulance spokesman said the person was crushed by the elephant and suffered a fatal cardiac arrest at the scene.

The incident happened at about 5.15pm (AEDT).

Early reports suggested the victim was one of the elephant's handlers.

Police said the industrial workplace accident body WorkCover had been called in to investigate the incident.

Police later confirmed the victim was a male circus employee.


©AAP 2007

[Tatsuya]

lolz....it is really a funny news.......why cant the elephant crush the clowns.....i hate clowns....

[Bobby]

This is why I don't like circuses :P

[Gumleaf]

this is a follow up article on this incident from ninemsn


Circus to go on after handler's death
Friday Dec 28 12:37 AEDT


The circus where an elephant handler died will go ahead with a scheduled performance on the NSW north coast.

The Stardust Circus opens at Yamba at 7pm (AEDT) for a nine-day run, before moving on to Ballina and then Palm Beach in Queensland.

The handler, aged in his 60s, died on Thursday of a heart attack.

It is not yet known if he suffered a back injury before or after he died, or if an elephant caused the injury.

Early police reports said one of circus elephants fell on the handler as it was being unloaded from a truck at the Angourie Road Sports Reserve about 5.15pm.

An ambulance spokesman said the injured handler died of a fatal cardiac arrest at the scene.

Police said the handler and another circus worker had been tending to the circus's two elephants in a makeshift exercise yard.

A ticket agent for Stardust, Aladdin's Ticketing, said all shows would go ahead as scheduled, and the incident had not hampered sales.

"Everything's going on in a normal fashion," Aladdin spokesman John Le Mare told AAP.

"Most shows eventually get sold out."

An inspector from WorkCover NSW has arrived on the scene and, along with police, will prepare a report for the coroner.

A post-mortem examination will be carried out to determine the exact cause of death.


©AAP 2007