Ferris wheel fire at Highfield Festival leaves over 20 injured
Tragic events took place during the rock and pop festival by Lake Stoermthal in Germany. They involved people who took advantage of a popular tourist attraction, the Ferris wheel.
Two Ferris wheel gondolas caught fire late Saturday evening at the Highfield Festival near Leipzig, injuring more than 20 people. Investigators are trying to determine what happened, and a fire expert is on the scene.
How could the fire have started?
The expert has been at the festival grounds since early morning and has started the investigation, said a police spokeswoman, quoted by the DPA agency. At this point, attention is focused on how the accident could have occurred.
At around 2 PM GMT on Saturday, one of the 24 Ferris wheel gondolas caught fire, then spread to the second gondola.
Burned and injured from the fall
Investigators are still trying to determine what exactly happened in those few minutes. According to the police, at least 23 people were injured and taken to hospitals - four of them suffered burns, and one was injured as a result of a fall.
The other injured, including rescuers and at least four police officers, were examined in the hospital for possible smoke inhalation.
The police were unable to provide any information about the condition of the injured, their age, and gender in the morning after the fire. The exact number of injured has also not been finalised yet, the spokeswoman said.
"The rock and pop festival by Lake Stoermthal, with around 30,000 guests, was interrupted for about two hours. The show then continued," the "Welt" newspaper portal wrote.
