Woman in Mexico dies in fall from ‘Voladores’ ritual pole

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A woman performing in the picturesque “Voladores” ritual has died after falling from the 30-yard (meter) high pole in central Mexico state of Puebla. The municipal government in the city of Huauchinango said Sunday it was cancelling the remaining festivities in a sign of mourning. The performers were apparently from a troupe of mainly female “voladores.” They had been preforming at the city’s Festival of Flowers when the accident occurred Saturday. The voladores are generally four performers who climb up the pole and tie themselves to ropes twisted around the pole; they then descend through the air as the rope unwinds.