Ferris wheel fire at German music festival injures more than 20
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Four people were burned when the fire broke out on two gondolas at the Highfield Festival.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM MUECKENMOERDER/X
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BERLIN - More than 20 people were injured on the night of Aug 17 after a Ferris wheel caught fire at a music festival near the German city of Leipzig, a police spokesperson told AFP.
The fire broke out shortly after 9pm (3am on Aug 18, Singapore time) on two gondolas at the Highfield Festival and was quickly brought under control.
Four people were burned, one injured in a fall, and another 18 people suffered from smoke inhalation, the police spokesperson said.
Members of the police force and firefighters responding to the incident were also injured, he added.
Photos published by German media showed flames engulfing gondolas on the spinning Ferris wheel, with thick black smoke billowing above the ride.
Helicopters and fire crews quickly responded, and all of the injured were taken to a nearby hospital, the spokesperson said.
The Highfield Festival, which bills itself as the largest independent rock festival in eastern Germany, attracts thousands of visitors every summer to the shores of man-made Lake Stormthaler outside Leipzig.
This year’s line-up included Macklemore, The Kooks, Flogging Molly and Rise Against. AFP
