Dozens of apes and monkeys - including five orangutans and a 48-year-old silverback gorilla - are burnt alive after New Year's Eve inferno 'sparked by Chinese sky lanterns' sweeps through a German zoo enclosure

Dozens of animals including apes, monkeys, bats and birds were burnt alive after an inferno swept through the monkey enclosure at a German zoo in the first minutes of 2020.

The fire at Krefeld zoo in northwestern Germany is likely to have been caused by Chinese sky lanterns launched to celebrate the new year, said police who were called out at 12.38am.

Several witnesses reported that they had seen the cylindrical paper lanterns with little fires inside flying in the night sky shortly after midnight Wednesday near the zoo, Gerd Hoppmann, the city's head of criminal police told reporters. Three lanterns bearing hand-written New Year's wishes were later discovered in the smouldering debris.

Police launched an investigation for 'negligently criminal fire' and hope to establish the path of the lanterns by analysing atmospheric conditions and wind direction.

The zoo near the Dutch border said that the entire ape house burned down and more than 30 animals, including five orangutans, a 48-year-old silverback gorilla called Massa, a chimpanzee and several monkeys, as well as fruit bats and birds, were killed.

Only two chimpanzees could be rescued from the flames by firefighters. They suffered burns but are in stable condition, zoo director Wolfgang Dressen said.