Around 25,000 visitors to Germany’s largest amusement park Europa-Parc near the French border had to be evacuated on Monday after a fire left no one injured, local police said.
The fire broke out around 4:40 p.m. local time in a technical room in the park of the city of Rust. AFP images show a thick, tall column of black smoke rising over the park.
SCREENSHOT/AFP
According to the police, more than 450 firefighters, police forces and emergency services have been dispatched to the park site. The evacuation went “smoothly” and the warning systems worked properly.
No information was initially given about the extent of the damage and the origin of the disaster. The German criminal police have initiated investigations. The park could reopen as early as Tuesday.
AFP
According to a local fire official, Bernhard Frei, in an interview with the German television station Welt TV, the firefighters arrived three to four minutes after the fire broke out and were thus able to prevent the fire from breaking out. He spoke of a “big” effort to put out the flames.
AFP
Located near the German city of Freiburg im Breisgau and the French city of Strasbourg, the theme amusement park opened in 1975.
According to its owners, it is visited by almost six million people every year, making it one of the most important in Europe.