A Chinese actor who lost his wife and a partner in a horrific fall on stage last year was seriously injured during a show this week, state media reported.
Zhang Kai, 39, plunged several meters onto the hard cement floor while performing an aerial silk routine on Monday night, after two pieces of cloth he was holding exploded from the top of a crane.
The shocking moment was captured by Zhang’s live stream of his performance in Henan province on Douyin, the sister app of TikTok in China, according to the state-run Xiaoxiang Morning Herald.
Zhang, who suffered facial injuries and broken legs, had been out of danger since Wednesday but remained in the intensive care unit, his family told Chengdu Business Daily, a state-run newspaper.
Zhang’s late wife, surnamed Sun, died while playing silks with her husband in a village in Anhui province in April last year, causing fear and mourning on social media due to the lack of measures to protect the players.
Online footage of the event showed the couple being pulled up by a crane above a large outdoor stage. As they swayed in mid-air, Sun wrapped her arms around her husband’s head and hung onto him during the shift. But he lost his grip and landed on the hard stage amid cheers from the crowd. Zhang tried to grab him with his legs but failed, the footage showed.
The accident caused a stir on social media. Many users asked why Sun was not wearing any safety belt, and why there was no safety net or broken mat on the floor. Others have called for stricter regulations on the acrobatic industry and better protection for performers.
An investigation of last year’s event by the local government found that the company that hosted the show had not received permission from the authorities and failed to provide the necessary security and emergency measures during the event. The use of the crane in the process was a violation of the law, the government said.
China’s Acrobats Association issued a statement at the time, calling on groups of acrobats and dancers to pay more attention to safety measures.
Regarding his Douyin life, Zhang, a father of two, said last year’s incident “took away the person I loved the most, leaving me alone to support the whole family.”
Before Monday’s performance, Zhang said in a video on Douyin that he took the gig to wait for a friend who was supposed to perform but couldn’t make it to the show that night, calling it a “new problem.”
“Maybe when you see this, like me, you will feel a mixture of sadness and an indescribable feeling,” he said as he turned his phone around to show the construction crane that was used to hang the silk for the work. “Later I’ll use this account to show you guys on the livestream.”
On Douyin, many users wished Zhang a speedy recovery. Some urged her to change to another job for her children, citing the dangers.
CNN’s Hassan Tayir contributed this report.
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