Eleven people were admitted to a hospital on Sunday after a circus act in Providence, Rhode Island went horribly wrong.

CBS Boston reports that eight circus acrobats were hospitalized and at least two were in critical condition on Monday after the rig that they were hanging from collapsed during a Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus performance at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. The performers, called "hairialists," were hanging by their hair, mimicking a human chandelier, when the accident occurred during the first act of the 11 a.m. "Legends" show. According to Entertainment Weekly, the acrobats fell 25 to 40 feet and hit a male performer on the ground below.

"Next thing you know the whole thing comes crashing down," said a woman who was part of the 4,000 audience members in attendance. "There was a huge metal structure that fell on them."

Officials are investigating the clamp that held the performers to the rafters, which Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare said snapped.

"Everybody thought that it was part of the act, but then when they landed on the floor, and they weren't moving -- they weren't getting up, we knew that there was something wrong," said Rosa Vivieiros of Seekonk, who was at the show with her grandson and young niece.

A circus spokeswoman announced Monday that none of the injuries are life-threatening.

Moments after the accident, the lights in the stadium immediately went dark while emergency personnel rushed in to help.

"We rendered immediate medical aid. We triaged those that were most injured first and got them to the hospital pretty quickly," said Pare. "We just hope that they fully recover from those injuries."

"This is a company that's been around a long time. They're very conscious," explained Lawrence Lepore of the Dunkin Donuts Center. "In this case their head rigger would go out and actually check the equipment."

Watch video footage of the accident below.