A fire has broken out on a Ferris wheel, leaving ‘more than 30 people injured’ at a major music festival in Germany.
This evening at around 9:00 p.m. CET, a fairground attraction caught fire at the Highfield Festival in Leipzig, which attracts 30,000 people every year.
According to eyewitnesses, there were still passengers on board the Ferris wheel when it burst into flames.
Police spokeswoman Josephin Sader told German news outlet BILD: “The fire started in one gondola for reasons still unknown and then spread to a second one.
“There are more than 30 injured, most of them minor, including four police officers. Two people were seriously injured. There were no fatalities.”
A carriage on the burning Ferris wheel at the Highfield Festival in Leipzig
Black smoke billows from one of the upper carriages as festival-goers look on.
More than 30 people were injured in the fire and are receiving treatment in hospital.
A statement from the festival said: ‘Those affected are receiving treatment and are doing well considering the circumstances.
‘We are in close coordination with firefighters, police, rescue and medical services.
‘We will cordon off the wheel accordingly and then continue operations as planned.’
German rapper Ski Aggu was on stage at the time of the fire.
He saw black smoke coming out of one of the upper carriages and commented on it before stopping his show completely.
In a statement on Instagram, she wrote of her “dismay and shock” at what happened.
He said: ‘I was just told in my ear that I should not cancel the show under any circumstances, but that I should first remain in dialogue with you so that there would not be mass panic.
‘For me, the priority was to prevent the situation from getting worse, which fortunately also worked.
‘Thank you for staying calm and possibly preventing something worse.
“The decisive factor in this was above all the work of the rescue teams, who reacted very quickly and thus prevented anything worse.”
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
With dozens of firefighters on site, the fire has been extinguished and the festival has resumed.
“The show must go on,” announced a festival organizer at around 10:00 p.m. CET.
The Highfield Festival has been running for 15 years and is expected to host 54 artists and bands over the weekend, including American rapper Macklemore, of Thrift Shop fame.
This is a Breaking News History. More to come later.