An acrobat fell to his death during a rock music festival in Madrid just before US band Green Day performed.

The organisers of the Mad Cool festival expressed their condolences to the acrobat's family in a statement after his death on Friday.

They said they "regret the terrible accident".

Spanish national television showed images of what appears to be the acrobat falling from a box suspended several metres in the air. The performer is thought to have been wearing a harness as the box was suspended from a crane.

The organisers said they decided not to cancel the performance by Green Day following the accident "for security reasons".

Green Day wrote on Twitter that "we just got off stage at Mad Cool Festival to disturbing news. A very brave artist named Pedro lost his life tonight in a tragic accident."

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