Abandoned ‘floating theme park’ on huge Soviet ship bursts into flames in Chinese lagoon as cops probe mystery blaze

THIS is the moment a huge abandoned aircraft carrier burns in a Chinese lagoon as a fire boat struggles to put out the blaze.

Dramatic video caught flames bursting through the ship’s bridge yesterday with the vessel partially destroyed and left listing to one side.

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Footage from a drone caught the ship ablaze[/caption]

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The fire engulfed the ship’s bridge[/caption]

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It is not yet clear what caused the fire[/caption]

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Massive damage could be seen to the bridge and hull this morning[/caption]

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The ship caught blaze at around 4pm Chinese time[/caption]

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The ship was sitting in a lagoon near the mouth of the Yangtze[/caption]

The Minsk, built in the 1970s, caught fire at about 4pm local time with motorists driving past filming black smoke billowing out of the hull.

By nightfall, the smoke had turned to a massive blaze with parts of the bridge consumed by fire.

Photos taken this morning show part of the bridge missing with the remaining part twisted and black.

Smoke damage could also be seen around the bottom of the flight deck and the hull.

A fire boat was also still spraying water at the ship with the blaze appearing to have been extinguished.

The Minsk, which is anchored about 50 miles northwest of Shanghai, was also left angled to her right side.

There were no casualties in the fire, Chinese media reported, but cops are now investigating.

It is not yet clear what caused the fire but repairs were understood to be ongoing.

The ship is a Kiev-class aircraft carrier and was built by the Soviet Union, later becoming owned by a Chinese company.

She was operated by the Soviet Navy in the Pacific Fleet between 1978 and 1994 before being sold to South Korea for scrap the next year.

The South Korean owners then resold the ship to a state-owned Chinese ship dismantling company.

But it was saved from scrap again when video game arcade owners bought it for $4.3m in 1999.

Since then, the Minsk became the centre of a theme park in the massive southern metropolis Shenzhen called Minsk World.

Minsk World was a military theme park built around the aircraft carrier which also had Soviet-era fighter jets for people to look at.

According to one YouTube review, staff wore mock military uniforms and performed dances for tourists.

Visitors could hold fake missiles and get a ride in a small boat around the side of the Minsk.

But the company went bankrupt in 2006 with the ship then being sold to a series of successive groups.

It was moved to a lagoon off near the mouth of the Yangtze River where it had become a favourite of urban explorers.

One man sneaked onto the boat last year and toured the derelict inside of the ship.

He found that much of the theme park equipment had been left on board with fake painted missiles, info boards, and miniature aircraft carrier models.

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The Minsk was caught on video burning in a massive blaze[/caption]

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Motorists caught thick black smoke pouring out of the ship[/caption]

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Massive damage occurred to the bridge with the ship left listing[/caption]