More than 20 people were injured Saturday night after a Ferris wheel caught fire at a music festival near the German city of Leipzig, a police spokesperson told AFP.

The fire broke out shortly after 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) on two gondolas at the Highfield Festival and was quickly brought under control.

Four people were burned, one injured in a fall and another 18 people suffered from smoke inhalation, the police spokesperson said.

Members of the police force and firefighters responding to the incident were also injured, he added.

Photos published by German media showed flames engulfing gondolas on the spinning Ferris wheel, with thick black smoke billowing above the ride.

Helicopters and fire crews quickly responded and all of the injured were transported to a nearby hospital, the spokesperson said.

The Highfield Festival, which bills itself as the largest independent rock festival, attracts thousands of visitors every summer to the shores of man-made Lake Stormthaler outside Leipzig.

This year's lineup included Macklemore, The Kooks, Flogging Molly and Rise Against.