PROVIDENCE, R.I. � Nine performers�were injured in an accident about noon during an aerial act in Sunday�s performance of the Ringling Bros. Circus.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. � Nine performers�were injured in an accident about noon during an aerial act in Sunday�s performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Dunkin� Donuts Center.

Police said about 1:30 p.m. at a press conference that 9 of the performers, all women, were in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital, but with non-life-threatening injuries.

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Another video posted on YouTube, apparently by an audience member, shows a circus prop resembling a backyard gazebo and holding a number of performers crashing to the floor just as it appeared to reach the near high point in its ascent toward the ceiling of the Dunkin� Donuts Center.

Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros., said the accident happened during an act in which eight performers hang �like a human chandelier� using their hair.

He said the metal-frame apparatus from which the performers were hanging came free from the metal truss it was connected to. The eight women fell 25 to 40 feet, landing on a dancer on the ground.

Roman Garcia, general manager of Ringling�s Legends tour, said in a news conference, �Everybody�s conscious. Everybody�s doing well. We ask everybody to pray for the girls.�

Garcia said the accident occurred during a hair-hanging act. The circus website lists the Medeiros Troupe as the Legends tour�s eight person �hair -hang and motorcycle high wire act.�

The circus performances were suspended after the accident and later canceled. They 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. shows were also canceled.

Othello Smith, of Providence, and his family left the building shortly after the accident because they didn�t want their young children watching the aftermath. �One of the performers was crying,� he said. �It looked pretty bad.�

Smith said the performers were doing an aerial act, where they were spinning on ropes or cables.

�They just dropped,� he said. �It happened so fast you didn�t really believe it happened.�

Journal reporter Paul Parker who was in the lobby of the Dunkin� Donuts Center, a public building, to report the story said he was ordered to leave shortly after noon by a security guard who threatened to have him arrested if he did not comply.

Lawrence J. Lepore, the center�s general manager, said later that�the guard was wrong. He suggested Parker file a complaint with the center and that the guard would be disciplined.

Journal photographer Bob Breidenbach said that when he arrived at the circus scene one of the performers was lying on floor, surrounded by some 35 emergency service workers and others. A Providence Fire Department rescue truck was inside the building.

The performer was lifted onto a gurney and, as the person was wheeled toward the rescue truck, the person waved to the audience and members of the audience clapped.

Then a circus announcer told the audience that accidents can happen in live performances. He thanked the first responders and announced that the show, which began about 11 a.m., would not continue.

A number of audience members had already left the auditorium and were milling by the center�s concessions stands. After the announcement those that remained the auditorium filed out.

The circus has been in town since Friday for the Legends tour. Performances had been scheduled through Monday. The status of the Monday performances was unclear at of 3 p.m. Sunday.

A 32 year-old Ringling aerial performer died in 2004 when she fell some 30 feet during a performance in St. Paul, Minn. The Associated Press reported at the time that it was the first fatal accident involving Ringling performers in at least a decade.

�This is a developing story, check back for the latest developments. Last update: 7:01 p.m.