A major music festival in Germany was temporarily interrupted on Thursday after fires broke out outside the event grounds, though organizers resumed the event around two hours later after firefighters brought the situation under control.
The Fusion Festival in the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was suspended shortly before 7 pm (1700 GMT), according to police.
Festival-goers were instructed to move to a runway on the site of the former Soviet military airfield in the town of Lärz. Columns of smoke were visible in the sky as fire engines with flashing lights crossed the grounds, while the smell of smoke hung in the air.
Music was halted and announcements urged visitors to head to the runway. Some left the site by car or bicycle, while most made their way on foot. Traffic briefly backed up on roads leading to the festival grounds, but the atmosphere remained calm, according to dpa reporters.
At around 8:50 pm, firefighters cleared the area and organizers announced that festival operations had resumed.
"The evacuation worked smoothly," organizers said. "At no point was there a fire on the festival grounds, nor was there any risk of the flames spreading to the Fusion site."
Police later confirmed that a fire had broken out in the northern area near the festival grounds and said firefighters had extinguished the blaze.
No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fires remains unknown.
The festival began on Wednesday and is scheduled to run until Sunday. Organizers expect around 65,000 visitors.
Held annually, Fusion is one of Europe's largest alternative music and cultural festivals. Spread across around 40 stages and venues, it combines techno, rock, pop and other musical genres with theatre performances and political education programmes. More than 3,300 artists are scheduled to perform this year.
