Leipzig — Police in the east German city of Leipzig are investigating the causes of a fire on a Ferris wheel which injured 23 people at a music festival on Saturday.
An object under the ride caught fire for unknown reasons, police said on the social media platform X, before the flames spread to two of the Ferris wheel gondolas.
Both were completely destroyed by the fire on Saturday evening, according to a dpa reporter on the scene at Highfield Festival, south of Leipzig.
Of the 23 people injured, four suffered burns, one was hurt in a fall, and others including first responders and at least four police officers were examined in hospital for possible smoke inhalation.
A total of 65 people received medical treatment in connection with the fire, with 16 treated in hospital, the police said. None are in a life-threatening condition.
A specialist investigator came to the site on Lake Störmthal on Sunday morning and began a probe into the causes of the accident, a police spokeswoman said earlier.
The investigation is ongoing and the site of the fire was cordoned off, the policewoman said.
According to the operator, the Ferris wheel is 38 metres high and has 24 gondolas. "The ride is seven years old," he said, adding that was not old for a Ferris wheel. "I have one that is 30 years old," he added.
He did not want to comment on a possible cause.
Earlier, a festival-goer from Cologne said that the Ferris wheel suddenly sped up. The burning gondolas were at the very top of the wheel.
German rapper Ski Aggu was performing when fire broke out.
"I'm absolutely shocked and upset about the Ferris wheel fire during my show at Highfield," the rapper said in a post on Instagram.
"I was only told through my earpiece that I should not stop the show under any circumstances, but should initially continue to talk with you to avoid mass panic."
"The priority was to prevent the situation from escalating any further. Fortunately, that worked," he added.
A fire service spokesperson told dpa around 30 minutes after the fire broke out that the situation was under control.
The indie rock music festival was set to be headlined by Macklemore on Sunday.
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