New footage is circulating on social media showing an under-construction water park in Sweden exploding into flames. According to reports, a fire broke out at the Liseberg amusement park, which is located in the city of Gothenburg, on Monday, engulfing the water slides, construction equipment and building facilities, leading to “total destruction”.
The footage, which was posted to Reddit, shows enormous black clouds of smoke rising from a flaming slide before an explosion sends debris flying. At present, it is still unclear what caused the blaze, however, Liseberg did confirm that the fire “started on the outside of the southern part of the building, quickly spread to parts of the pool hall”. Importantly, no serious injuries are being reported, however, police have noted that one man is still currently missing and a total of 16 people have sought medical care for mild injuries.
“We are deeply saddened by the devastating event. Our primary task now is to assist the police in the search for the missing person and to support everyone affected,” said Liseberg CEO Andreas Andersen.
While efforts to locate the missing man will continue, attention will now turn to the monumental clean-up project. The park has confirmed that the Liseberg Grand Curiosa Hotel and Liseberg’s nearby office buildings have been evacuated, with guest bookings over the next two days cancelled.
Liseberg is the largest amusement park in Sweden and the latest addition was set to dramatically swell tourism. Announced in 2020, the water park add-on cost a reported USD$10.6 million and was set to feature 14 water attractions, covering a total area of around 13,600 square metres, including 4,000 square metres of outdoor space and 6,000 square metres of indoor pools.
