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Germany: Ferris wheel catches fire at Leipzig music festival

August 18, 2024

A ferris wheel caught fire late Saturday at Leipzig's Highfield Festival, leading to more than 30 injuries, police said. The German Red Cross said two of the cases were serious.

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Ferris wheel burning at Leipzig music festival
A ferris wheel caught fire at a music festival near Leipzig, eastern GermanyImage: Str./dpa/picture alliance

A ferris wheel caught fire at a music festival on the outskirts of the city of Leipzig in the eastern German state of Saxony late on Saturday. 

The cause of the fire was initially unclear.

Ferris wheel on fire in Großpösna, Leipzig district, Germany
Smoke was seen billowing from the ferris wheel at the Highland Festival after the fire broke outImage: spm-gruppe/dpa/picture alliance

What do we know about the fire at the Leipzig music festival?

Police said that more than 30 people were injured, but that preliminary indications were that these injuries were mostly comparatively mild cases of smoke inhalation. 

Germany's Red Cross however said that two people were more seriously hurt. 

Police said four officers were among those hurt.

A police spokesperson was later cited by the France's AFP news agency as saying that four people suffered burn injuries and one person was injured from falling.

A rescue helicopter was used in the operation, according to police.

The ferris wheel caught fire at around 9 p.m. local time (1900 UTC/GMT). The fire first broke out in one passenger car and spread to a neighboring one.

People look at smoke and ferris wheel on fire
Hundreds of festivalgoers witnessed the fire as it unfolded, many sharing images or videos onlineImage: Str./dpa/picture alliance

Festivalgoers share photos, video of blaze

Many people at the scene captured images and videos and shared them online. 

German rapper Ski Aggu said in a video posted to Instagram that he was told to continue performing during the blaze.

"I was just told through my earpiece that I should not end the show under any circumstances," he said, adding that this was done to avoid "mass panic."

The Highfield Festival describes itself as an Indie-Rock music festival and was set to close this Sunday. It was held in the Grosspösna outer suburb of Leipzig.

Organizers said that around 30,000 people attended the event.

In a separate incident on Saturday, Leipzig police broke up a far-right demonstration near a Leipzig Pride event.

sdi/msh (dpa, AFP)