Tragedy strikes Highfield Festival as Ferris wheel fire injures dozens

The German music festival Highfield Festival participants will remember it for a long time, all due to a fire that broke out in one of the gondolas on the Ferris wheel. Dozens of people were injured in the flames.

The Highfield Festival in Leipzig's grounds caught fire on the evening of 17 August 2024. A Ferris wheel had been erected on the grounds and suddenly caught fire. Initially, the flames consumed one gondola, but soon, they spread to the next one. At the moment the fire broke out, all the gondolas were filled with festival-goers who wanted to see the event grounds from a bird' s-eye view.

Local police spokeswoman Josephin Sader stated during a press conference: "According to current information, we know that more than 30 people, including four police officers, were injured. Luckily, nobody sustained serious injuries."

However, the German Red Cross believes that two of the injured people remain in serious condition. Some patients suffer from burns, and one person has injuries related to falling from a height. Others have breathing problems caused by inhaling smoke.

The gondola fire on the Ferris wheel occurred during a concert by the German rapper Ski Aggu. The man addressed the incident on his Instastory.

The artist wrote: "I am absolutely shaken and shocked by the fire on the Ferris wheel during my performance at Highfield. I was told under no circumstances could I stop the performance, but should engage in a dialogue with you first to avoid crowd panic. My priority was to prevent the situation from escalating further, which fortunately worked. Thank you for staying calm and perhaps preventing a worse outcome. Crucial in this were the efforts of emergency services, who responded so quickly and thus prevented a larger tragedy. Huge thanks for your service!! I wish all the injured a speedy recovery! Yours, August".