Huge fire erupts at Wild West-themed amusement park in Germany

A major fire broke out at a Wild West-themed amusement park in southern Germany, injuring two people and causing millions of euros worth of damage, police said.

Several wooden buildings went up in flames on the so-called Main Street of Pullman City amusement park in the southern state of Bavaria, police said. The cause of the early morning fire was not immediately known.

About 200 people, including around 180 overnight guests, were able to escape to safety from the park, which pulls in hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

Pullman City, which fashions itself on the horseback-riding cowboys of the 19th-century American West, covers around 200,000 square metres near the city of Passau, close to the Austrian border.

Firefighters battled the flames for hours on the park's Wild West-styled street, which features a replica saloon, steakhouse and a music hall.

By midday Sunday only the skeletons of some of the buildings remained as smoke continued to rise from the remains.

A police spokeswoman said one park employee was slightly injured in the shoulder while trying to extinguish the blaze, and a firefighter was injured in the leg.

"The fire was discovered by employees at around 6 am," said a police spokeswoman. "They tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher. But that didn't work."

According to the website, a free admission family day had been planned on Sunday featuring magic and light shows. Pony rides were also supposed to be on offer, among other activities.

"I could cry for an hour. But that doesn't help. We now have to look forward," the theme park's managing director, Claus Six, told dpa.

The employees who noticed the fire reacted with presence of mind and brought the guests to safety, he said. The Pullman City park opened in 1997 and employs 500 permanent and freelance staff members.

Six said he believes the park will have to remain closed until at least March but hopes to rebuild as much as possible. "We'll start planning tomorrow," Six said.

Although the buildings that burned make up only a small portion of the park itself, Six said the facilities are particularly important for providing services like catering to guests.