Green Day Perform Minutes After Acrobat Pedro Aunion Monroy Dies At Mad Cool Festival

An acrobat plunged to his death at a music festival just minutes before U.S. rockers Green Day took to the stage.

The performer was suspended in an illuminated box at the Mad Cool Festival in Spain on Friday. 35,000 people were present at the festival. They were horrified as Pedro Aunion Monroy, who lived in Brighton, fell 100ft from a cage suspended above the ground. Witnesses claim his harness snapped unexpectedly.

Green Day were initially criticized for performing shortly after the acrobat’s death, but the band later issued a statement saying they were unaware he had died until they came off stage.

Green Day’s statement on their website declared: “We just got off stage at Mad Cool Festival to some disturbing news. A very brave artist named Pedro lost his life here tonight in a tragic accident. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.”

Earlier, Twitter users slammed both the organizers and the band for continuing with the entertainment. One festival goer said that he left after the tragic accident was not addressed by anyone on stage.

An official statement from the organizers’ Twitter feed, posted overnight, said: “Mad Cool Festival regrets the terrible accident that an aerial dancer has suffered during the second day of the festival. For security reasons, the festival decided to continue with the event. We offer our sincere condolences to the dead man’s family. Today we will pay tribute to the artist during the festival.”

The cause of the accident is currently under investigation.