Acrobats suspended in mid-air, crash

First responders work at the center ring after a platform collapsed during an aerial hair-hanging stunt at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. (AP)

Emergency workers tend to injured performers after a platform collapsed. (AP)

Performers hang during an aerial hair-hanging stunt at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. (AP)

An injured female performer is lifted onto a stretcher after a platform collapsed during an aerial hair-hanging stunt at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. (AP)

Emergency personnel attend to injured performers after a scaffolding collapsed during a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performance in Providence, Rhode Island in this picture provided by Kyle Therrien. (REUTERS)

A scaffolding collapsed during a circus performance injuring as many as 20 performers, nine of them critically, the Providence Fire Department said. (REUTERS)

Emergency personnel attend to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performers who were injured when the scaffolding they were performing from collapsed in Providence, Rhode Island. (REUTERS)

(REUTERS)