44 cars catch fire at Swiss open-air festival

FRAUENFELD, Switzerland, July 14 (Reuters) Forty-four cars were destroyed in a massive fire at one of Switzerland's largest open-air music festivals today, police said.

Police were investigating the cause of the blaze and said arson had not been ruled out. Five firefighters suffered slight injuries while putting the blaze out.

Around 35,000 people were at the three-day Frauenfeld festival, headlined by The Prodigy.

''Arson cannot be ruled out. But the cars were parked on a dry straw field and the weather is very hot today. Everything is possible,'' a police spokesman said.

The cars were parked about 2 km from the site of the festival, which was not interrupted by the blaze.

REUTERS AGL RK2310