The celebrations leading up to Mardi Gras have been marred in the last week after two were killed by parade floats in New Orleans.

The first fatality came on Wednesday when Geraldine Carmouche, 58, reportedly tripped on the hitch holding a tandem float together and was run over by the second trailer.

More recently, an unnamed man was run over by another tandem float in the Krewe of Endymion parade on Saturday night.

Videos taken of the incident appear to show that the man fell near a section of the parade with no barricades, and eyewitnesses say he was attempting to catch some item thrown from the float when he tripped on beads.

“To be confronted with such tragedy a second time at the height of our carnival celebrations seems an unimaginable burden to bear,” New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a statement. “The city and the people of New Orleans will come together, we will grieve together, and we will persevere together. Our hearts break for those lost and for their loved ones, and our prayers and deepest sympathies are with them.”

In response to these two deaths in the last week, it was announced during a press conference that tandem floats would be banned for the remainder of Mardi Gras. Operators of tandem floats have issued statements expressing regret and sympathy for the deceased and will be updating their parade plans going forward.

Such deaths during the Mardi Gras season are considered extremely rare. In 2008, a man was hit by a float after a parade. Prior to that, a 3-year-old girl was killed by a float in 1981.

mardi gras parade
A reveler makes his way through the French Quarter during Mardi Gras day in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Feb. 9, 2016. Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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