46-foot Berlin aquarium holding 1,500 fish bursts, 2 injured
Video shows the aftermath of a 46-foot cylindrical aquarium holding 1,500 fish that exploded inside a Berlin hotel, injuring two and flooding the building. (Iva Yudinski via Storyful)
A massive aquarium in a downtown Berlin hotel burst Friday, releasing 264,000 gallons of water and 1,500 fish and injuring two people, German authorities said.
The spill in the lobby of the Radisson Blu caused a wave of debris to sweep the hotel shortly before 6 a.m. local time, and rescue dogs are combing the area to make sure no one was caught under the wreckage.
The tank was the world’s largest cylindrical aquarium and was dubbed the "AquaDom," which held 80 different types of tropical fish, including blue tang and clownfish — most of which are believed to have perished in the accident.
The AquaDom aquarium in central Berlin, which burst Friday, is seen in a before-and-after split image. (REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo | Niklas Scheele/via REUTERS)
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"We have not yet been able to walk the first floor completely, which is probably where these fish will be," fire service spokesman Adrian Wentzel said. "But the thing is that the water has completely leaked out and these about 1,400 fish that were in this aquarium could not be saved, either."
The exact cause of the incident remains unclear, though authorities suspect overnight freezing temperatures may have caused a crack in the glass.
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The tank, which had become a tourist attraction with a 10-minute elevator ride through it, was modernized in 2020.
People gather on the top of the AquaDom aquarium at the Sea Life tourist attraction in Berlin on July 27, 2015. (Joerg Carstensen via DPA)
Some 300 guests staying at the Radisson Blu were forced to evacuate Friday morning.
German lawmaker Sandra Weeser, who was staying at the hotel, described being awakened after hearing a loud bang, noting she thought there might have been an earthquake.
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A fish lays in the debris in front of a hotel where a huge aquarium burst in Berlin on Friday. (Soeren Stache/dpa via AP)
"There are shards (of glass) everywhere. The furniture, everything has been flooded with water," she said. "It looks a bit like a war zone."
Emergency services are still on site. Berlin police presently do not believe the tank was tampered with.