A major fire has destroyed at least one attraction at Germany's Europa Park, the park's chief executive reported today.
The blaze has consumed the show building for the Pirates in Batavia dark ride. Visitors captured the conflagration and posted images to social media.
Breaking News:
— EuropaStreet (@EuropaStreet) May 26, 2018
Major fire currently happening in what looks to be the Scandinavia area of the park. More details to follow when we get them. pic.twitter.com/p4se5af9lJ
J’espère que tout le monde va bien et qu’il n’y a pas de blessés
— Yann (@YDosSts) May 26, 2018
La photo fait froid dans le dos ??#Europapark pic.twitter.com/6U6xqYnW18
Michael Mack, the CEO of the park, reported that the Batavia ride was lost, then thanked the first responders who helped evacuate the area safely and protect the rest of the theme park.
A sad day for #europapark thanks to all who help us to save our life's work! Can't express my feelings.Lost Batavia and Norway completely-but so far no person beeing hurt
— Michael Mack (@MichaelMack) May 26, 2018
As Mack noted, there have been no reported injuries so far. Europa Park is Europe's second most-visited theme park, following Disneyland Paris. It drew 5.7 million visitors last year, according to the most recent TEA/AECOM Theme Index report, making it the 21st most-visited theme park in the world.
Pirates in Batavia opened in 1987 and offered a seven-minute boat ride through the "exotic East Indian seaport of Batavia." It was located in the Netherlands section of the park. Tweets from the park's PR department stated the fire appeared to start in a warehouse, then spread to the Pirates attraction building. It also burned structures in the adjacent Scandinavia land of the park. The park will open as scheduled tomorrow.
Update: Local authorities report that three firefighters suffered smoke inhalation, but that no park visitors or employees were injured. About 250 firefighters were on scene and although the fire continued to burn early Sunday morning (German time), it was brought under control on Saturday night.
Update 2: Here's the latest from the park on what remains closed, including the Netherlands and Scandinavia lands.
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thank god fire has never destroyed anything significant at any disney park. It is pretty remarkable.
It's so sad to see this wonderful attraction disappear within minutes. It was the most beautiful and detailed ride I've ever visited. Glad that nobody got injured, but it's very heartbreaking for a Europapark fan :-(
This park has been on my bucket list for awhile. So sad to see these pics, but glad everyone is okay. As someone else mentioned, hopefully better things may come for this area of the park.
Such a tragic loss for Europa Park, so glad no one was hurt. Really going to miss Batavia. :(
The park will make a comeback and be better than ever. Really upsetting to see such an amazing place get destroyed, but, like everyone else has said, at least nobody was hurt.
I was there that day it happened I panicked
So sad when something like this happens but I am sure questions will be asked to if any sort of fire system and sprinkler system was installed, I am sure there parks around the world will be looking at there Systems.
Such good news to hear no one was injured and the firefighters did a great job keeping it contained as the images show the building was well alight.
My thoughts are with the pirates who perished. A tragick day.
I don't live near here or been here, but I like MACK Rides I hope things get better for them instead of this!
I don't live near here or been here, but I like MACK Rides I hope things get better for them instead of this!
A shame to lose such a great ride but more important no one was hurt in all this.
I'm really impatient to learn about this saturday's fire cause.
It's not the first time that a major fire destroyed an area in a German theme park, and elsewhere.
It's not just the inflamable material used that constitutes a problem. We could say, lack of compartmentalisation and poor electrical engineering (apart from human interference) is weighing in a lot.
As a designer, I'm always keen to learn from disasters. The theory of fire prevention sometimes is insufficient.
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Glad no one was injured! That’s most important. Especially given those pics! Looks Horrific. Silver lining may be that they can choose to reboot the ride and sections of the park impacted with 21st century depth and detail, improving on what made the ride and area(s) so popular. I am optimistic given how Europa continues to expand and build on its wonderful history. Loved this park when we visited! Would go back for all the changes - especially if they improve on this type of immersive dark ride. Thanks, Robert, for this report!