Major fire in Gothenburg

Fire started with explosions near water slides

Explosion in the outdoor area of the water slide(Bild: twitter.com Krone KREATIV,)

A major fire broke out at a water park in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Monday morning. The fire started with explosions in the outdoor area near a water slide, as video footage (see above) shows, and quickly engulfed the entire building.

A short time later, meter-high flames were blazing and thick, dark smoke spread across the city. The police evacuated an adjacent hotel and several offices belonging to the Liseberg amusement park in the heart of Gothenburg. Residents were asked to stay in their homes and keep windows and doors closed.

Fire investigators believe it was an accident at work
The cause of the devastating fire is still unclear, but fire investigators believe it was a "work accident". The water park, which has not yet opened, is part of an extension that was due to open this year. The construction costs were estimated at the equivalent of around 115 million euros.

Construction work was almost complete
The "Oceana" water park was due to open in the summer. It is to become part of Liseberg, the largest leisure park in Scandinavia. A spokeswoman for the construction company responsible, NCC, said that the construction work at the water park was almost complete. The final inspection was planned for April. The pools had only recently been filled with water.

16 people were injured in the major fire and one person is still missing, according to the authorities.