BERLIN: A giant aquarium burst in Berlin on Friday (Dec 16), sending a “tsunami” of water and 1,500 tropical fish gushing into a hotel lobby and spewing debris onto a nearby street.
It remains unclear what caused the 14m-high cylindrical AquaDom aquarium to explode at around 5.50am (4.50am GMT), police said.
“A million litres of water and all the fish inside spilled onto the ground floor” of the hotel complex housing the aquarium, a spokesman for the Berlin fire department told AFP.
Guests at the Radisson Blu hotel reported being woken up by a loud bang and what felt like a small earthquake, before seeing the destroyed aquarium and wrecked hotel lobby.
Two people suffered light injuries from glass splinters and were taken to hospital, and all the fish died.
“It was a full-on tsunami,” said Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey, adding that it was pure luck the incident had happened in the early morning when very few people were around.
“Despite the terrible destruction we’re seeing, we’re lucky people weren’t seriously injured,” she told reporters.
The 1,500 fish in the tank however “could not be saved”, Giffey added.
More than 100 emergency workers were at the scene, which was scattered with glass and other debris.
The cylindrical AquaDom, which opened in 2004, has long been a popular tourist attraction in the German capital.
It is located in the foyer of a Radisson Blu hotel and had a clear-walled elevator built inside to be used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex.
According to the Sea Life website, the AquaDom is the largest free-standing cylindrical aquarium in the world.
Hotel guest Claudia Gonzales said she “jolted out of bed” when the aquarium burst.
“It sounded almost like a firework but the hotel actually shook inside,” she told AFP.
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