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Ms Sun (L) and Mr Zhang (R) who performed the stunt, were a couple
By Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring
A Chinese acrobat has died after falling to her death during a performance on Saturday.
The woman, surnamed Sun, fell during a flying-trapeze performance in the city of Suzhou in central Anhui province.
Footage shared widely online shows the gymnast falling onto a hard stage after a routine went wrong with her acrobatic partner, who is also her husband.
Ms Sun fell from a significant height after he failed to catch her with his legs during a stunt.
She was taken to hospital where efforts by doctors to save her life failed. The popular news website The Paper reported that she leaves behind two children.
Officials say an investigation is underway into the incident.
According to The Paper, Ms Sun and her husband, surnamed Zhang, had worked together for many years and had often performed without safety belts “for the sake of looking good”.
The footage has horrified people in China, and although social media users in the country have acknowledged that acrobatics carry a high level of risk, they have also voiced their concerns about the industry’s lax safety measures.
Some on the Weibo social network have commented that they have seen similar performances take place in the country without a safety mat or net, and are calling for better regulation in the industry.
There has also been significant debate in the media over who is to blame.
The local Culture and Tourism Department says that the performance troupe behind the act had not gained sufficient approval to carry out the act in the first place, and that they would be “dealt with accordingly”.
The Paper shared archive footage of the couple, who are often seen performing stunts at high altitudes and simply relying on each other’s strength for survival.
It says that the decision not to use safety belts spanned from working in a “highly competitive” industry, with them earning “relatively more money” by performing riskier acts.
Follow Kerry on Twitter: @kerrya11en
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