After the harness that he was wearing to perform the Mesoamerican dance ritual snapped, an acrobat who was performing it survived and crashed to the ground in a park in central Mexico.
José Hernández, 23, and six other participants were hired to take part in ancient ceremony that was held in Huaquechula, Puebla, to commemorate the Day of the Dead on Sunday.
An attendee at the event held on the grounds of a local church recorded the spectacle as Hernández and the acrobatic team spun around about 80 feet above ground.
According to local media reported, the strap that was tied to Hernández’s feet suddenly snapped before he plummeted to a grass field below as spectators rushed to his aid immediately.
José Hernández was performing a Mesoamerican ritual and survived after the strapped that he was tied to snapped, sending crashing to the ground at a park near a church in Puebla, Mexico, on Sunday. The 23-year-old sustained several fractures and suffered a head injury. He is currently in stable condition.
José Hernández (circled) suffered a 80-foot fall after the harness that he was strapped to suddenly broke while he and a group of acrobats were performing a Mesoamerican dance ritual to commemorate the Day of the Dead in Puebla, Mexico, on Sunday
Hernández was rushed to Gonzalo Río Arronte General Hospital in Atlixco where he remains hospitalized and in stable condition.
Huaquechula mayor Raúl Marín told a local network that Hernández suffered several fractures and a head injury.
Hernández’s near fatal fall took place a year after 25-year-old Anselmo Gómez survived a 65-foot fall while performing the same stunt in the state of Hidalgo on October 17, 2020.
Attendees at a Day of the Dead event in central Mexico rush to the side of José Hernández after he survived a scary fall moments after the harness that helped him spin around a pole as he performed a Mesoamerican dance broke
Gómez, who suffered fractures to his legs, arms, hips and spinal column, also had a strap hooked to his legs before it broke unexpectedly and sent him diving to the ground.
Like Gómez, Hernández belongs to a collective of acrobats known as the ‘Voladores de Papantla,’ or the Papantla Flyers, who perform the ritual dance at festivals while another person sits on the platform about 98 feet below playing a trumpet or a set of drums.
Four of the acrobats tie themselves onto rope and climb up the pole. Then they spin around the platform before dropping to the ground.
Tradition has it that the dance originated in Mexico with the Nahua, Huastec, and Otomi indigenous peoples before spreading to most of Mesoamerica.
According to legend, the ritual was initiated 450 years ago to request rain god Xope Totec’s help to end a drought or end hunger.
Similar rituals are performed by other acrobats from indigenous communities throughout Central America and Mexico, according to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In 2008, UNESCO recognized the ceremony as Intangible cultural Heritage.