Elia (sculpture)

Elia is a sculpture in Herning, Denmark, created by Ingvar Cronhammar. The sculpture is a big round dome with four tall columns that are 32 meters (105 ft) high. The dome has a diameter of 60 meters (200 ft). Inside the sculpture, there is a large tube that shoots flames randomly into the air. The flames can go up to 8 meters (26 ft) high and last for about 25 seconds. These bursts of flames happen randomly, usually every two months. However, they will not happen if the weather is too windy or if people are too close to the sculpture. The sculpture opened in September 2001. It costed 23 million Danish krone. Accidents On October 30, 2016, a 21-year-old man fell down the center of the sculpture and died. Two months later, on December 29, 2016, a woman also died by jumping into the center, which was believed to be a suicide. As a result of these incidents, a safety net was installed around the sculpture. During the installation, one of the workers fell from a height and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. On March 23, 2021, a 46-year-old man died while performing maintenance inside one of the steel pipes of the sculpture. References