"Chuchin falls to death at Show" declared the front page headline of the then Natal Witness on the morning of Wednesday May 30, 1984. "Thousands of stunned spectators at the Royal Show yesterday saw Chuchin the Clown fall 25 metres to his death from the high wire in the main arena," read the report. It was a tragedy that entered the folklore of the city.
Ironically it was not during his act that Chuchin fell but while preparing to descend after a performance. According to the Witness report "he started his routine descent which required that he place his foot in a looped rope hanging from a large hook, suspended from a crane. As he put his full weight on the rope, it slipped off the hook."
