Tomorrowland main stage destroyed by fire hours before festival start

Shocking footage showed the stage at the iconic European dance festival in Boom, Belgium, engulfed in flames on Wednesday afternoon.

Large plumes of smoke could be seen billowing over the festival site as firefighters battled to stop the towering blaze from spreading to a nearby woodland.

There are no ticket holders on the grounds at the moment, but an estimated 1,000 employees on site at the time of the fire.

No injuries have been reported.

Fire crews have asked nearby residents to close their windows and doors, although authorities have said the smoke is not toxic.

Read more: Shocking moment Israeli airstrike blasts Syria military HQ on live TV as news reporter flees in terror

Read more: Iceland volcano erupts for 12th time since 2021, prompting evacuations from iconic Blue Lagoon spa

The three-day event was due to start on Friday, with an estimated 400,000 festivalgoers already making their way to Belgium ahead of the campsite opening tomorrow.

The main stage is the centre piece of Tomorrowland, designed to reflect the festival's yearly theme - this year being "The World of Orbyz".

Despite the devastating destruction to the stage, the festival is currently still going ahead.

In a statement shared online, festival organisers said: "Due to a serious incident and fire on the Tomorrowland Mainstage, our beloved Mainstage has been severely damaged.

"We can confirm that no one was injured during the incident. We can announce that, DreamVille (campsite) will open tomorrow (Thursday, July 17) as planned and will be ready for all DreamVille visitors.

"All Global Journey activities in Brussels and Antwerp will take place as planned.

"We are focused on finding solutions for the festival weekend (Friday – Saturday – Sunday). More updates and detailed information will be communicated as soon as possible."

Festival spokesperson Debby Wilmsen said the organiser's priority now is the "safety of our visitors and those in the surrounding area".

The blaze has reportedly led the mayor of Boom, Jeroen Baert, to cancel his holiday in Germany and return to the town to handle the fallout from the fire.

A number of videos of the inferno have been shared online. In one, it appears the fire started on the right hand side of the stage, as shocked employees evacuate the areas towards a grassy hill.

Another clip shows the main stage completely destroyed by the fire, leaving only the frame of the structure behind.

Dance music fans from 200 countries were set to attend the festival over two weekends in the summer.

Ahead of Weekend 1, the festival announced David Guetta and Charlotte De Witte among their headliners.

The festival sold out in record time this year with 800,000 people expected to have attended over the two weekends, according to DJ Mag.

According to Eventplanner, the festival has made more than 112.8 million Euros in revenue in recent years.