A huge fire has broken out at an amusement park in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, engulfing water slides and other attractions, rescue services and eyewitnesses have reported.
No injuries have been reported, but firefighters have surrounded the area – with police advising those living nearby to stay indoors and close their windows.
Thick black smoke was pictured rising above the Oceana water park, a new development at Gothenburg’s Liseberg funfair which was due to open later this year.
“The fire started at one of the water rides outside the building and then spread to the entire building,” the funfair said in a statement.
The fire was seen engulfing water slides and other attractions in Gothenburg
Reuters
The statement continued: “Currently, the focus is on fire extinguishing on-site and obtaining a clearer picture of what has occurred and the extent of the incident.
“We have evacuated guests at the Liseberg Grand Curiosa Hotel, nearby office spaces, and are providing ongoing updates to employees and suppliers.”
The firestorm spread across a number of water slides, wrecking large parts of the park’s ‘tube’ water slide section.
Mårten Westlund, the park's head of PR, said: “The building has been completely burned out.
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Thick black smoke was pictured rising above the Oceana water park at Gothenburg’s Liseberg funfair
Reuters
“We have activated our crisis function and are giving the rescue services everything they need… We also have contact with NCC, which is responsible for the building site.”
Amelie Winberg, a spokesperson for NCC, told Swedish broadcaster SVT a subcontractor was doing some installations when the fire broke out.
Jörgen Bäck, from the Greater Gothenburg rescue services, said: “This is a severe fire and we have a lot of resources on the scene.”
Rescue service press spokesperson Markus Friberg said: “The fires are still raging and, most of all, there is a significant amount of smoke.”
Fire crews were at the scene, as black smoke darkened the Gothenburg sky
Reuters
The theme park is the largest in Scandinavia and is home to attractions including the ‘Balder’ wooden rollercoaster.
It is not known whether the wooden coaster has been affected by the blaze.
Liseberg celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023 and park CEO Andreas Anderson encouraged Britons to visit the attraction last year due to the “strong pound” making it “unusually affordable”.
It had hoped to open the water park before the summer and had invested 1.2 billion krona (£91 million) in the attraction, reported The Local.