37-year-old performer fatally crushed by a stage decoration in the middle of the opera house at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow

A 37-year-old artist was crushed to death by a stage decoration in the middle of an opera at Moscow’s prestigious Bolshoi Theater on Saturday night. The fatal accident allegedly occurred during a change of scene in Sadko, an opera composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, reports Yahoo! UA News. The theater said the opera was “immediately shut down and the audience asked to leave” after a ramp crushed the performer, according to Interfax News. RIA Novosti and TASS report that the man was killed by a piece of stage scenery that fell. The inquiry committee says it is examining the circumstances but has yet to release other information, including the identity of the artist.

The Bolshoi Theater has been the scene of a few other serious incidents in recent years, including an acid attack on the director of the Bolshoi Ballet and the death of a senior violinist after falling into the orchestra pit .