An abandoned theme park was left to decay for years after it was forced to shut down because a boy lost his arm on a ride. Once the pride of Europe, Dadipark in Belgium closed its doors after two decades of welcoming thrill-seekers after a nine-year-old reportedly had his arm ripped off on a water ride. Now an empty, creepy site, the park was once hugely popular with children for years, and was full of swings, slides and carousels .
During its peak, Dadipark attracted 1 million visitors, and even had the longest rope bridge in Europe for some time. However, the park was affected by several incidents as the rides became increasingly dangerous. The most serious incident took place in 2000 when a boy lost his arm while on the popular Nautic Jet ride - sparking a huge fall in visitor numbers and a string of safety complaints.
In 2002, the park closed down for "renovation" work but never reopened, and was left to rot for decades. However, 28-year-old photographer Kris Van de Sande went back to capture spine-tingling photos of the decayed rides at the tourist attraction. He said: "A boy lost his arm on the nautical jet attraction.
After that people started to complain about safety in the park. Visitor numbers dwindled and the park closed in 2002 for major renovations, but never reopened. "Several groups started to try and re-open the park, but their attempts weren't fruitful.
There were a lot of plants around because nature had been left to take over. Nature started to reclaim the .