Mystery surrounds circus death

Mystery surrounds the death of a circus worker originally believed to have been crushed by an elephant at Yamba on the NSW north coast.

It is not yet known if the elephant's handler, aged in his 60s, died of a heart attack today before suffering an injury to his back, or even if an elephant caused the injury.

Early police reports said one of The Stardust Circus elephants fell on the handler as it was being unloaded from a truck at the Angourie Road Sports Reserve about 5.15pm (AEDT).

An ambulance spokesman said the injured handler died of a fatal cardiac arrest at the scene.

Police however later said the handler and another circus worker were together tending to the circus's two elephants in a makeshift exercise yard.

"One of the circus workers has then noticed the other man lying face down on the ground,'' a police spokeswoman told AAP.

"It's unknown how he got to be on the ground, or what's happened, but the man, who had an injury to his back, was unable to be revived.''