Terrifying moment new water ride EXPLODES in fireball at Swedish amusement park

Shocking footage showed Oceana Waterworld in Gothenburg engulfed in flamesThe brutal fire prompted a mass evacuation of a nearby hotel, offices and houses

A Swedish amusement park was engulfed in a terrifying inferno after a new waterpark attraction exploded this morning.

Shocking footage showed the installation at the Oceana Waterworld in Gothenburg ablaze as flames tore through the structure, sending a huge plume of thick, toxic black smoke trailing into the sky behind snow-covered houses.

The fire prompted a mass evacuation of the area with firefighters at a loss as to how the blaze was triggered, reporting they could not bring the flames under control.

The alarm was raised at 10:06 amid reports of a fire, according to an emergency services spokesperson, but the flames spread out of control following an explosion moments later.

‘We know that there are fires in water slides, among other things, but we don’t know how it started,’ firefighter Björn van der Kaay told Swedish press, adding there was a serious risk of the fire spreading to nearby properties.

A public health notice was issued and residents living close by were told to immediately get inside and close all windows and doors in a bid to escape the toxic fumes.

A fire raged through a water park attraction with several slides in the Nordic region’s largest fun fair with a huge plume of black smoke drifting over Goteborg, Sweden’s second largest city

The alarm was raised at 10:06 amid reports of a fire, according to an emergency services spokesperson, but the flames spread out of control following an explosion moments later

The view of the fire from a nearby office

The installation, which cost some cost 1.2 billion kronor (£91 million) to build, was set to open later this year and was expected to be a big hit for Liseberg

An explosion at the waterpark slide is seen behind snow covered houses

Scores of fire vans and police cars were seen surrounding the explosion site as firefighters deployed to extinguish the flames which wrecked large parts of the tube waterslides, including one with a drop of 13 metres (43 feet)

‘There is a lot of plastic in the construction. So (the smoke) is not healthy to inhale. That’s why we’re going out with a public health warning,’ rescue services spokesman Klas Lüppert told SVT.

Emergency services continue to battle the blaze which has reduced the waterpark to ‘nothing but a skeleton’, one witness told Expressen.

There are reports that several people were injured, with Sahlgrenska University Hospital confirming it had treated four people for minor injuries without providing more detail.

‘It is important that the public stays away from the site, police spokesperson August Brandt told Swedish media, adding that Liseberg’s Grand Hotel Curiosa, which sits adjacent to the waterpark, was completely evacuated alongside several apartment and office blocks.

Roadblocks were also put in place as firefighters battle to contain the blaze.

One resident told Expressen: ‘First we saw smoke, then fire and then it exploded,’ adding that there was a thick smell of ‘burnt plastic’ in the air.

‘We have seen how the water slide has been formed over several months. Now it only looks like there is a skeleton left,’ she said. 

An employee of the site, who wished to remain anonymous, told SVT the explosion was so intense that it was felt in adjacent buildings. 

‘The windows started shaking. The parts from the slide could just as easily have flown towards us,’ they said. 

‘We had to leave everything and run out,’ they said after an immediate evacuation was ordered.

Scores of fire vans and police cars were seen surrounding the explosion site as firefighters deployed to extinguish the flames which wrecked large parts of the tube waterslides, including one with a drop of 13 metres (43 feet). 

Amelie Winberg, a spokeswoman for NCC group that is the general contractor for the construction, told SVT that a subcontractor was doing some installations when the blaze started, but the cause of the fire remains unknown. 

An employee of the site, who wished to remain anonymous, told SVT the explosion was so intense that it was felt in adjacent buildings

Smoke and flames rise from a building after a fire broke out at the Oceana Waterworld at the Liseberg Amusement Park in Gothenburg, Sweden on February 12, 2024

Billows of smoke are picture at a structure of the Oceana Waterworld at the Liseberg Amusement Park in Gothenburg, Sweden on February 12, 2024

Smoke rises after a fire broke out at the Liseberg amusement park’s new water world Oceana in Goteborg, Sweden

Firefighters in action after a fire broke out at the Liseberg amusement park

Oceana Waterworld is a huge new edition to the Liseberg amusement park, which is the country’s largest funfair.

The installation, which cost some cost 1.2 billion kronor (£91 million) to build, was set to open later this year and was expected to be a big hit for Liseberg – one of the most popular tourist attractions in Gothenburg.

The mammoth attraction was spread over 6,000 square metres indoors and 4,000 square metres outdoors, and was designed to allow some 1,750 bathers to enjoy a state-of-the-art waterpark experience.

Had it been completed, the park would’ve constituted one of the largest waterpark attractions in Europe.

Last month, water started filling the pools in the Oceana Water World, and Liseberg estimated it took four days to fill them.

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

Liseberg CEO Andreas Andersen told local paper Göteborgs-Posten that the group has activated its ‘crisis management’ procedure and called a meeting of the board in the wake of the devastation to their investment.