SAN FRANCISCO—A technician for Cirque du Soleil’s “Luzia” show died on Tuesday, November 29 after being struck by a lift before a San Francisco show, the performance company announced.
The San Francisco Police Department reported that firefighters arrived on the scene and transported the employee to a local hospital, where he later died from injuries sustained.
Tuesday performance at 8 p.m. was canceled due to the incident. SF Gate reported that show officials handed out fliers to apologize to those who purchased tickets for the canceled showing. The ticket purchases for Tuesday’s show will be refunded or rescheduled, according to reports.
At 12:29 a.m., Cirque du Soleil released the following statement via Twitter:
“It is with immense sadness that we report a fatal accident that occurred on November 29, during the pre-set of the show LUZIA in San Francisco. One of our employees, a technician on the show, was struck by a lift and passed away from his injuries. We cannot confirm our employee’s identity at this time as his family has yet to be reached. We are currently gathering more information about this tragic accident and will update you with more details as soon as we are in a position to do so.”
Cirque du Soleil has identified the victim as 42-year-old Olivier Rochette, of Quebec, Canada, according to their Twitter account. Rochette is the son of Gilles Ste-Croix, a founding member of Cirque du Soleil.
