Large fire breaks out at Sweden’s biggest amusement park

On February 12, 2024, 8:04 PM

A fire broke out at an amusement park in the western Swedish city of Gothenburg on Monday, engulfing outdoor water slides and related facilities in flames, authorities said.

No guests were at the Oceana waterpark, a new addition to Gothenburg’s Liseberg amusement park, which had been scheduled to open later this year, and so no injuries were reported.

The blaze spread across several yet-to-be-opened waterslides at Liseberg parkImage: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT NYHETSBYRÅN/picture alliance
But police evacuated a hotel and offices connected to the Park and warned households in the area to remain indoors due to smoke, which could be seen towering over the city.

“The fire started at one of the water rides outside the building and then spread to the entire building,” the park said in a statement.

The fire send a huge plume of black smoke drifting over GotebergImage: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT NYHETSBYRÅN/picture alliance
Live video showed slides being engulfed by flames while several firefighting vehicles surrounded the area.

Liseberg, in downtown Goteborg, opened in 1923 and is a popular tourist destination with some 3 million visitors a year.