RIDE INFERNO
Terrifying moment new ride explodes in fireball at waterpark in Sweden as evacuation ordered & smoke engulfs attraction
Watch the moment the slide exploded in the above video
THIS is the terrifying moment a new water slide explodes into a fireball at a Swedish amusement park.
The park was evacuated as thick smoke engulfed the attraction.
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The footage shows the new ride at the Oceana Waterworld in Gothenburg engulfed in flames sending black smoke into the sky.
The raging fire tore through the structure, reducing the ride to "nothing but a skeleton", a witness told Expressen.
Firefighters struggled to bring the flames under control and the cause of the explosion remains unknown.
But the subcontractor was carrying out works at the yet-to-be-opened waterslide when the blaze started, reported Swedish broadcaster SVT.
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A spokesperson for NCC - the general contractor of the site - told SVT: "We don't know anything for sure, but we believe that the fire broke out in connection with a work step."
The alarm was raised at 10am local time with reports of a fire which was followed by an explosion moments later.
The fire started at one of the water attractions outside of the building before spreading throughout.
Firefighter Björn van der Kaay told Swedish press: "We know that there are fires in water slides, among other things, but we don't know how it started."
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The fire brigade has warned about the risks of the flames spreading to the nearby residences.
People living in close by neighbourhoods were instructed to stay indoors and close the windows to avoid toxic fumes.
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A rescue services spokesman Klas Lüppert told SVT: "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."
The hotel adjacent to the park, together with several apartment and office buildings, have been evacuated.
A police spokesperson August Brandt told Swedish media: "It is important that the public stays away from the site."
The roads leading to the site have been blocked as the firefighters continue to battle the flames.
There were reports of injuries but no official statement has been released yet.
Sahlgrenska University Hospital confirmed that it had treated 12 patients for minor injuries but refrained from providing more details.
The witnesses said there was a strong smell of "burnt plastic" in the air.
One resident told Expressen: "First we saw smoke, then fire and then it exploded.
"We have seen how the water slide has been formed over several months. Now it only looks like there is a skeleton left."
An unnamed employee of the site told SVT: "The windows started shaking. The parts from the slide could just as easily have flown towards us.
"We had to leave everything and run out."
Oceana Waterworld is a new addition to the Liseberg amusement park which cost £91 million to build and was set to open later in the summer.
If completed, it would've become one of the largest waterparks in Northern Europe.
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The water park with 14 attractions planned to have a bathing area of just over 6,000 square meters indoors and 4,000 square meters outdoors and a capacity of 1,750 bathers.
Following the devastating incident, the Liseberg CEO Andreas Anderson told local paper Göteborgs-Posten that a "crisis management" was activated as the board is set to meet.
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