German police investigate Ferris wheel goes up in flames - 25 injured

A Ferris wheel caught fire in Leipzig (Germany) in the evening. 25 people were injured, four people suffered burns.

According to police reports, around 25 people were injured in a fire on a Ferris wheel at the Highfield Festival near Leipzig on Saturday evening. Four people suffered burn injuries and one had a fall injury, said a police spokeswoman.

The other injured, including first responders and at least four police officers, were examined in hospital for possible smoke inhalation, the police spokeswoman told the German news agency DPA. The police were unable to provide information on the age and gender of the injured. The exact number of injured has not yet been conclusively determined.

"The scene of the fire has been cordoned off. The criminal investigation department has started an investigation and is considering the deployment of a fire cause investigator," said the police spokeswoman.

At around 9 p.m., one of the gondolas of the Ferris wheel first caught fire. The fire then spread to the second gondola. Both were completely destroyed by the fire. It was initially unclear how many people were sitting in the 24 gondolas at the time of the fire. The gondolas were usually occupied by a maximum of four people.

The festival on Lake Störmthal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein is a large rock and pop festival with around 30,000 visitors. It was initially interrupted due to the fire. After two hours, the festival resumed with a performance by Cro.