There is a long-standing tradition of circuses in Eastern Europe, but this weekend, a performance in Ukraine went terribly wrong when a lion attacked a trainer, CBS reports.

The incident took place in the city of Lviv, one of the main cultural centers of Ukraine.

Doug Shepard, who witnessed the attack, said: “Kids are screaming, and kids are only 10 feet away and (my family was) probably 35 feet away.”