Cirque du Soleil's Sarah Guyard-Guillot's Death Was Accidental; Performer Died from Multiple Blunt Force Trauma

Cirque du Soleil aerialist Sarah Guyard-Guillot's death was ruled as accidental and died from multiple blunt force trauma, according to a statement released by Nevada's Clark County coroner's office late Tuesday.

Guyard-Guillot, 31, was preparing for the Final Battle scene of "Ka" at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas when she slipped from her safety wire and fell 50 ft from above to her death into a pit below the stage during a live peformance.

Audience members witnessed the tragic accident who thought the fall was part of the show.

"Initially, a lot of people in the audience thought it was part of the choreographed fight. But you could hear screaming, then groaning, and we could hear a female artist crying from the stage," Dan Mosqueda, audience member from Colorado Springs, said.

The show was immediately cancelled when Guyard-Guillot was rushed to the hospital. She was pronounced dead before midnight on Saturday, June 29.

Paris-born Guyard-Guillot, a mother of 2, had been an acrobat for 22 years. She taught gymnastics to children at the Cirquefit program. She is called by her stage name Sassoon by her friends, colleagues and students.

She had been with the original cast of "Ka" since 2006. Guyard-Guillot's tragedy was the first reported death in Cirque du Soleil's 30-year history.

"Sassoon was an artist with the original cast of KÀ since 2006 and has been an integral part of our Cirque du Soleil tight family. We are reminded, with great humility and respect, how extraordinary our artists are each and every night. Our focus now is to support each other as a family," Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte said in a statement.