Seven people were left injured when an attraction at Germany’s biggest theme park came tumbling down last week, police said.
The accident at Europa-Park in Rust, a town near the French and Swiss borders, was captured in a shocking video showing diving platforms and acrobats plummeting into the pool below.
Five performers, out of a group of 10, were injured in the structure collapse, as well as two visitors. Four performers were hospitalized and two had serious enough injuries that they had to be kept overnight, German broadcaster SWR reported.
The names of the victims were not released, but the youngest injured performer was an 18-year-old woman. The rest of the injured performers are ages 22, 24, 29 and 50, according to SWR. The two visitors among the casualties were only slightly injured.
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The park says that the accident occurred when one of the mobile pools involved in the high-diving “Return of the Pirates” show ruptured. Various scaffolding and diving towers up to 25 metres tall were attached to the pool’s walls, which collapsed when the pool broke open and water escaped.
Water from the pool flowed into a water ride attraction called Atlantica SuperSplash.
Europa-Park, and the Atlantica SuperSplash ride, reopened on Tuesday — though the now-demolished attraction remains closed.
A spokesperson for the park told SWR that the “high diving show would only have run for three more weeks, so the guest performance will now end early.”
Europa-Park is a popular tourist attraction that drew more than 6 million visitors last year, mostly from Germany, France and Switzerland.
It has areas with themes based on different European countries, and three based on fantasy settings. The park also hosts conferences and is a popular venue for events and television productions.
In June, a large fire broke out at Europa-Park at the Yomi Magical World of Diamonds attraction, prompting a park-wide evacuation. Two firefighters were slightly injured but no visitors were harmed in that incident.
— with files from The Associated Press
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