A police spokesperson said an investigation into the cause of the fires is ongoing and that criminal investigators are on the scene.
At least 23 people have been injured after two gondolas on a Ferris wheel caught fire at a music festival in Leipzig.
The fire started in one gondola and spread to another with eyewitnesses reporting them “spinning wildly”.
“We were about 100 to 150 metres away and wanted to go to the next concert and then we saw that it was burning brightly and that some people were still on the Ferris wheel. It was just a crazy moment, just to witness it. And then the Ferris wheel started going completely wild, it started spinning wildly while there still were some people inside and it was still burning. It was intense,” said one onlooker.
Police said first responders and at least four police officers were being examined in hospital for possible smoke inhalation but that their injuries were reportedly mild.
However, the German Red Cross said at least two people were more seriously hurt.
Police later said four people suffered burn injuries and one was injured from a fall.
A police spokesperson said an investigation into the cause of the fires is ongoing and that criminal investigators are on the scene.
“There is no information about the cause of the fire right now. The criminal investigators are on the scene and are investigating the cause of the fire and will also summon an arson investigator. The area of the fire is blocked off for the moment,” said Leipzig Police Department spokesperson, Josephin Sader.
The fire started at around 9pm local time at the city’s indie-rock Highfield Festival in the eastern German state of Saxony.
Organisers estimated around 30,000 people attended the event.
